If a person Zoom Whiten their Teeth Before Getting a Crown Will they Have to Always Zoom to Maintain?

You do not need to Zoom again: a quick touch up tray is usually all it takes once a year, but many patients like the appeal of a fast Zoom!

I always ask my patients if they are considering whitening before starting a crown in a cosmetic spot (aren't they all?)  If yes, I mention that you will need to wait about 10 days after whitening for the final color to "set."  I remind patients when whitening, like tanning, you can not pick the final color and may fade over time.  How fast it fades depends on genetics and environment - like diet.  It's easy to fix, inexpensive and well worth it.

Good Luck and a Healthy, Bright Smile.

If you have ever had aspirations of whitening your teeth, you should get the Zoom whitening treatment before getting your new crown.  It will not be necessary to continually Zoom to keep them the same color as your crown.  That being said, the color of your natural teeth will change over time, but the touch up bleaching trays that you will be given when you Zoom can be used to easily maintain the color.  We recommend that patients purchase touch up bleach and use them for an hour or two shortly after having their teeth cleaned.  This will help keep your teeth the same color as your crown.  

Any whitening procedure will reverse if it is not maintained.  One of the great things about the maintenance is that it is quite inexpensive and easy to do.  As long as you maintain the shade, you will not have to have the ZOOM process repeated.

If you have any thoughts of having whiter teeth, now is the time to do it, before you have your crown made.  Yes, you will have to maintain the whiter shade or your crown will eventually look too white, but the only other way to have whiter teeth, (which is another option) is to have porcelain veneers fabricated.  In order to lighten your teeth with veneers you have to place at least 8 to 10 veneers, but no maintenance needed on those.  Any less than 8 to 10 when you are creating a whiter shade will look un-natural and odd.

It is an individual choice. I always ask the patient whether they are happy with their teeth color now, and if 5 years go by depending on their age , as their teeth darkens, would they anticipate whitening their teeth  . If the answer is yes, they zoom their  teeth, purchase a maintenance kit for the future and get their crown 3-5 days after their ZOOM. A couple of months may go by, they drink coffee, tea, juice, and their teeth whitening relapses a few shades down, and then they have their maintains take home kit to use for 1 or 2 hours and everything will lighten up again. It is not too hard to maintain .

So. if you already have white teeth, do not do it before, if you are going to zoom it  sooner or later, a touch up kit is much cheaper than replacing a crown.

We have a lot of people who whiten before a new crown or filling is placed.  If you want to Zoom to get you teeth whitened quickly, then ask about a take home tray that you can use for touch-ups later.  Most of our patients get these trays and will use a whitening gel in them maybe one night a year to maintain their whiter teeth. 

Mixing and matching modalities like Zoom and Crowns is always a problem.

The colors will never match exactly and constant touching up of the natural teeth with trays is a pain in the you know what.  Do yourself a favor and seriously consider veneers in conjunction with the crown.  The color will match and you will have a smile you will love!

When my patients have an interest in tooth whitening, I always direct them to consider having the whitening treatment before I prepare the crown.  This is especially important if the crown is to be placed in the aesthetic zone. 

Teeth will whiten but dental restorative materials do not.  Whether porcelain or plastic, the dental materials have a specific color based on their manufacturer.  They are non-porous.  Whitening products work by removing stains from the microscopic pores in the tooth enamel.  You can remove surface stains from dental restorative materials with a good professional polishing, but the base color will never change.

Whitening before having aesthetic dental work done is the preferred course of action.  The color choice for the dental work can be controlled to match the lightened enamel of the natural teeth.  If the enamel discolors over time, a simple touch-up whitening kit can be used to return to an aesthetic match.

Whitening the teeth is a little like coloring hair...it is beautiful but requires maintainence! In my office we recommend patients follow-up any in-office whitening system with take-home whitening used one night per month.  When you color your hair, the goal is usally never to let your hair LOOK like it needs to be colored...and this requires regular maintainence.  Pick the 1st or 15th of the month, and use your whitening solution at home every month on that day to maintain the beautiful new color you achieved!

Yes. You are correct. If you whiten your teeth prior to a crown being placed you will need to maintain that color in order to keep the crown from standing out. There is a misconception that Zoom will provide a result that will last for years and this is absolutely false, unless you have a whiting maintenance plan in place. It is very easy to maintain white teeth these days but it will require just a little effort on your part or by your dentist. The good news is that the Zoom treatment is not always neccessay to keep doing in order to achieve long term results. Very often my patients will use other more cost effective products or services to maintain that white smile.

This is an issue I deal with almost on a daily basis.  Patients want whiter teeth but for some reason are not willing to do the work that is necessary to maintain the result.  Unfortunately whitening, like hair coloring, fades with time and without a maintenace schedule, will return to the original shade.  In a nutshell, if you are not willing to do the touch-ups, don't whiten first and just accept your shade. You are correct in your assumption that in time, and without touch-ups, your crown will no longer match your teeth.  I will tell you though that you should not have to undergo Zoom in-office whitening again if your dentist provided you with touch up trays.  With trays, you should be able to maintain yourself with touch-ups 1-2 nights (back to back) per month or 3-4 nights every 3 months depending on your shade and degree of relapse.

I hope this clarifies your situation.