I had some old, dingy crowns that embarrassed me.  My dentist told me that he could place lumineers over the old crowns to “restore” them, but they don’t look much better. There is still the gray line at my gumline. To me they look a little opaque.  Now three of them have fallen off.  My dentist has offered to put them back on, but I’m wondering if I should just ask for my money back on the ones that fell off.  They were pretty expensive to place.

Amelia L. – Little Rock, AR

Amelia,

What a bad experience you’ve been through.  I think I know why your dentist thought this would be a good idea.  The Lumineers company has advertised this as an alternative to replacing old crowns.  First, I’ll have to say this is a very advanced procedure that also requires specialized equipment. Second, even when pulled off, it doesn’t look beautiful. As you’ve noticed, you still have the metalic base to deal with, which is why you’ve still got the gray line at your gumline.

The best thing for your dentist to do, would be to replace your crowns with all-porcelain crowns, if he’s artistically able to do that.  The results would be much more beautiful.  I would go back and ask him to replace them with crowns, or give you a full refund and send you to someone who can.

This blog is brought to you by Oklahoma City Dentist Dr. Don Swearingen.