Matching a Shade to Bleached Teeth
I new patient came to my office last week to get a dental implant restored. This male patient has very large esthetic teeth but is missing his upper first premolar. Over the past several years he has been bleaching his teeth with white strips, and they look very nice.
The tricky part for our ceramist is getting a shade to match the bleach shades. In fact, none of our shade choices from our different shades come close to this. These are the times we are especially grateful to have an experienced lab technician who knows how to handle these situations. She was able to take photos and has a good idea of what will give us the best chance of success.
Another note on whitening before having any crowns or veneers done: there is a fading of the tooth color after bleaching teeth. It is unpredictable from one patient to the next how much fade to expect. So once the tooth whitening treatment concludes, the recommendation is to wait at least 2 weeks before selecting a shade to match these teeth. Patients may also need to touch up their whitened teeth from time to time to maintain the desired whiteness.