what can I do to whiten my teeth/crowns/ help!!

[Anonymous]

HI!

i am 32 y/o and have never gotten my teeth whitened. They are not horribly stained but don't ook white either. I don't mind getting them whitened, however, my problem is that my two front teeth are fake, they are crowns. i have heard that crowns have one color/shade and can't be whitened. What can i do? Is the only solution to get bew whiter crowns/facets and just whiten the rest of my teeth. I am trying to continue looking youthful. i think i have done a good job with my overall looks, appearance and skin but i think that if i did something with my teeth, it would improve my look so much more!!
Thanks for your advice and help.

[Anonymous]

Crowns will not whiten. The only suggestion I have is to stop bleaching for a while so that the rest of your teeth and your two front become the same color - that way they don't stand out.

Or you could always forgo your children's college education and get them all capped!

[Anonymous]

This happened to me. I was told I had 2 solutions: whiten the teeth and then replace the crowns, or get veneers over all of the teeth since I had a lot of crowns. Since my crowns were 20 years old and really needed replacing anyway (small chips, etc) I just did that.

[Anonymous]

Question- how long do veneers last - I heard you have to replace them eventually?

[Anonymous]

I've had my veneers (composite, not porcelain) at least 10-12 years and they still look good. will have to have them replaced eventually, but hope to stave that off as long as possible, since I probably won't get a "friends and family" discount with the replacements like I did with the first set! I've been really happy with my veneers - I had front teeth that looked marbled from a childhood medication.

[Anonymous]

I just went through this. I first got veneers on my two front teeth 13 years ago. They got a tad darker over the years, and if I whitened my teeth, the two front ones would have been way too dark. Recently, my dentist whitened my teeth and then matched my new veneers to the whitened shade. Total cost was about $3500, but I'm really happy with the results. Good luck!