June 2025 - Drake & Wallace Dentistry

I had a single tooth that needed a root canal treatment. It was fine at first, but eventually turned darker than the other teeth. I had internal bleaching done, which is what my dentist suggested. The tooth still looks darker and does not match the adjacent tooth. Now my dentist is suggesting a dental crown, but that removes a lot of healthy tooth structure. Would doing external teeth whitening make a difference?

Sammie

Dear Sammie,

Professional Teeth Whitening Trays

While teeth whitening is a wonderful way to brighten your teeth and can even make you look years younger, it will whiten your teeth evenly. That means that it will still be darker than the other teeth. Because of that, I would not recommend this solution.

Don’t get a dental crown either. That is a massive overtreatment. Instead, I recommend you either have composite dental bonding done or a single porcelain veneer. Neither of these will remove much tooth structure at all. At the most, you’d be looking at the depth of a fingernail. Please note that both of these treatment options require an expert cosmetic dentist. You’ll want someone with post-doctoral training. I’d also ask to look at before and after images of cases they’ve done to make certain they have an artistic eye.

The bonding will be less expensive, but will have to be replaced every few years. The porcelain can last for years. If money isn’t an issue, you can actually get more than one veneer to get a complete smile makeover. These can change anything about your smile, including the shape, size, and color. It is the procedure that celebrities go do when they’re looking for that gorgeous Hollywood smile.

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I had two removable partial dentures put in a few years ago. I’ve been sick ever since getting them. Aside from feeling like I’d been hit by a truck, I also had developed sores in my mouth. My dentist kept referring me out to other people. Eventually, as the sores just would not go away I went to our local hospital. They sent me to an allergist who diagnosed me as being allergic to several metals. I can’t think of anything else that could be doing this other than the dentures. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Elisa

Dear Elisa,

I get very frustrated when dentists ignore allergies. These are very real and for some patients can be life threatening. A standard question on dental intake forms should be “Are you allergic to any metals?” You didn’t say what type of metals you are allergic to. One of the most common is nickel, which about 10% of women have an allergy to.

While some less expensive alloys contain nickel, most metallic removable partial dentures are made from an alloy called Vitallium. This particular alloy, is composed of chromium and cobalt. I don’t know if any of these are on your list.

These allergies you have can be the root cause to everything you are experiencing. Leaving them there puts you at risk and could even result in a severe reaction that closes up your throat. If your dentist is unable or unwilling to work around the metal allergies you have, then I would work on finding a different dentist. There are metal-free dentists who work hard to provide metal-free restorations. I suggest consulting with one of them and explaining your situation. They can help you to get the tooth replacement you need without putting you at risk with your allergies.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

Whitening a Single Dark Tooth

I’ve Been Sick Since Getting My Partial Dentures

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