My teeth had been looking dingy. I went ahead and did some at-home teeth whitening. It took a while, but my teeth are shaping up. I’m excited about that, but it appears the whitening strips did something to my dental crown. It seems darker.
Morgan – Idaho
Morgan,
It’s not that the whitening strips have damaged your dental crown. It’s that the whitening strips will whiten your teeth, but not the crown. Teeth whitening doesn’t work on dental work, not even professional whitening.
The only way to change the crown’s color is to have your dentist re-do the crown. Make sure you have your dentist do an all-porcelain crown. Metal based crowns will not look as natural.
Be aware that while the over-the-counter whitening strips will work, the reason they took so long for you to see a difference was they cannot be as strong as the professional whitening your dentist can do.
If you’re happy with the results, you’re good to get the crown re-done. If you were hoping for more dramatic results, then I’d either continue with the whitestrips until you achieve the level of whiteness you were hoping for. When you’ve reached that goal, then have the crown re-done. Or if you want the process to be done faster, get whitening through your dentist. Depending on the method of whitening you choose, they can reach their fullest level of whitening in just one appointment.
This blog is brought to you by Dr. Mike Mavrostomos.