I need some advice. I’ve got a dental crown and 5 porcelain veneers. All of them are quite old 30+ years and need to be replaced. My dentist wants to crown all of my teeth because my smile isn’t very white and he feels it will look better. Is there an advantage to this I am unaware of, because it seems pretty drastic to me. I’m thinking of just having him replace all the old dental work with crowns instead of all my teeth, but do want a pretty smile at the same time. What would your advice be?
Melanie
Dear Melanie,
I am seeing some serious red flags here. First, if I understand you correctly, he wants to crown every tooth in order to whiten your smile. Is that right? If so, run away from this dentist as fast as you can. This is a massive overtreatment. Crowning every tooth requires grinding the tooth structure down to nubs in order to make room for the crowns. The best dentists want to be as conservative as possible with healthy tooth structure. There is a much simpler solution for this— teeth whitening.
I can’t imagine you’d need anything else based on your descriptions. So, why is your dentist suggesting this alternative? I hate to suggest it, but all I can think of is he is motivated by greed. Whitening your teeth will bring in a few hundred dollars. Crowning each tooth, known as a full-mouth reconstruction, will bring in anywhere from 30 to 60 thousand dollars.
Even if you needed a full-mouth reconstruction, this is a procedure very few dentists are qualified to do and I am positive your dentist isn’t one of them, for reasons I’ll bring up in a moment. Doing a full-mouth reconstruction completely changes your bite, which not only affects your appearance, but the way you speak, as well as the function of your jaw. If he gets it worng, you could be looking at a lifetime of pain and even TMJ Disorder.
Should You Replace Veneers with Crowns?
Dentists who suggest replacing porcelain veneers with crowns generally do so becasue they are not comfortable placing veneers. This screams inexperienced cosmetic dentist. Again, veneers are the much more conservative treatment. My advice to you is get as far away from this dentist as you can.
If you want this done right, look for an AACD accredited dentist. Have your teeth whitened to brighten your smile; then, replace the veneers with veneers and the crown with a porcelain crown. It’s that simple.
This blog is brought to you by Des Moines Dentist Dr. Phelan Thomas.
