How to prevent staining at the margins of the porcelain veneers

Porcelain veneers are more resistant to stains than tooth enamel, but is there a product that can be safely used with veneers to bleach the margins of the tooth where stains may build up? Is it okay to use the commercially available bleach products or do those damage the veneers? Although I don’t drink much coffee, I do drink some so I expect there may be a slow buildup over time. – […]

Polishing porcelain

I have crowns from 25 years ago on my front 3 upper teeth. One broke off and I just got it replaced with a new one. The other two crowns are polished and still look good, no stains. He filed down my new crown to make it fit and it doesn’t feel polished. It feels rough and not so smooth. My question is if you file a porcelain crown and do not polish it, will it […]

Allergic reaction to porcelain fused to metal crown

I had a glass crown with metal fitted on my front tooth in November 2010.I recently noticed a brown discoloration between the crown and the gum margin. I thought that the crown had separated from the gum. I visited my dentist two weeks ago. He said that I had severe gum inflammation. He told me to apply an anti-inflammatory preparation for a week and then to report back to him. […]

How can I whiten my porcelain veneer? It has started to darken.

I have had one veneer done on my front tooth about 7 years ago, My dentist did such a fabulous job, you can’t even tell one of my front teeth was fake. This past year however, there is darkening up at the gumline. When a picture is taken of me the one front tooth looks smaller than the other. What can I do rewhiten the top of the veneer by my […]

My dentist wants to put Lumineers over my gold crowns

I have interviewed a local dentist regarding Lumineers for 22 teeth. He has voluminous picture albums and seems to know his stuff, however, he has told me that there is no problem with him covering two gold crowns (30yrs in my mouth) that do show when I smile wide. He said the Lumineers will adhere to the gold, on the side of the upper molars. Is this really true, or […]

One tooth on the bridge looks darker

I have a 3 tooth bridge placed on front teeth. Material used was all porcelain. The dark pontic shows through the crown on one tooth therefore gives a gray appearance to that tooth. It looks awful. Fortunately bridge was placed w/ temporary cement to see how I like it. Why is the dark shadow showing through & what can be done to correct it? – Liz from Tennessee Liz, You […]

How to get rid of stains on dental bonding

I have two front teeth that are bonded and have a little stain on them. I had my teeth cleaned recently and the tentist was not able to get all the stain off. Is there something you can recommend to remove this stain. It doesn’t look nice and of course I would like them to. Thank you very much for your help. – Cheryl from California Cheryl, I hope I’m […]

My composite fillings hurt

I have at least 4 composite fillings some upper and some lower …when i am outside in winter for an hour or two my teeth do not bother me at all but after i come inside for awhile (maybe half hour ) they will take into shooting pain in my upper and lower jaw for about half hour to an hour then they go back to normal …they do not […]

Look for a Dawson Academy dentist

Hello Dr. Hall, My dental condition is short teeth, all of them as they have worn, seemingly of inferior enamel consistency. The incisor and bicuspid enamel has worn down to expose dentin interior. The upper jaw incisors are perhaps 6 mm shorter than when the adult teeth were new. Indeed, I looked like “Bucky Beaver” (of 1950’s Ipana commercials). The lower jaw molars are shorter than the incisors by over […]

Costa Rica Cosmetic Dentistry

I had about a ten-year bout with bulimia beginning in the late 60s, before the name was coined. Thankfully, I completely overcame this horrific problem, but the effect on my teeth was disastrous. In addition, I should have had braces as a teenager, and I had a serious bruxism problem. This triple threat caused my teeth to be in terrible shape, and regretfully, I didn’t do anything about it until […]