You cannot whiten dental crowns with traditional teeth whitening treatments. Whitening agents are designed to penetrate natural tooth enamel, but they cannot penetrate the materials used for crowns, such as porcelain or ceramic. Therefore, the color of your crown will remain unchanged regardless of the whitening products you use.
Understanding Whitening and Crowns
Dental crowns are custom-made caps placed over a damaged tooth to restore its shape, size, strength, and appearance. They are typically made from materials like porcelain, ceramic, or metal alloys, which are non-porous and do not respond to bleaching agents.
When you attempt to whiten teeth that have crowns, only your natural teeth will lighten. This can lead to a noticeable color mismatch, where your natural teeth appear brighter than your crowns.
What Are Your Options if You Have Crowns?
If you desire a brighter smile and currently have crowns, consider these strategies:
1. Whiten Natural Teeth First, Then Replace Crowns
This is often the most effective approach for achieving a uniformly brighter smile:
- Professional Teeth Whitening: Consult your dentist for professional teeth whitening to achieve your desired shade for your natural teeth. This can involve in-office treatments or custom at-home kits. For more information on professional options, visit the American Dental Association's MouthHealthy site.
- Wait for Shade Stabilization: After whitening your natural teeth, wait a few weeks for the new shade to stabilize. Teeth can rehydrate and slightly darken after whitening.
- Crown Replacement: Once your natural teeth have reached their final, desired shade, your dentist can then create new crowns that perfectly match this brighter color. This ensures a consistent and harmonious smile.
2. Focus on Stain Prevention and Maintenance
If replacing crowns isn't an immediate option, prioritize maintaining the existing shade of your crowns and preventing further discoloration of your natural teeth:
- Avoid Staining Foods and Drinks: Limit consumption of coffee, tea, red wine, dark sodas, and richly colored berries, which can stain natural teeth.
- Excellent Oral Hygiene: Brush twice daily with a non-abrasive whitening toothpaste (which primarily targets surface stains) and floss daily. This helps keep both natural teeth and crowns clean.
- Regular Dental Check-ups: Professional cleanings can remove extrinsic stains from natural teeth and help maintain the luster of your crowns.
3. Addressing Discoloration Around Crowns
Sometimes, the natural tooth underneath or around a crown can become discolored, particularly if the gum line has receded, exposing part of the natural tooth root or margin.
- Gum Recession: If gum recession exposes the darker tooth structure beneath the crown, whitening treatments might affect these exposed natural areas, but not the crown itself. Your dentist can assess if this is the case and discuss solutions like gum grafting or crown replacement.
- Stained Fillings Near Crowns: In some instances, tooth-colored fillings adjacent to crowns might appear to whiten. This effect is primarily due to the surrounding natural tooth structure changing color, making the filling appear lighter by contrast.
Comparing Options for a Brighter Smile with Crowns
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Whiten Natural Teeth, Then Replace Crowns | Achieves a uniformly bright smile; ideal long-term solution. | Requires significant investment (cost of whitening and new crowns). |
| Maintain Current Shade & Prevent Stains | Cost-effective; preserves existing dental work. | Does not brighten existing crowns; only prevents further discoloration. |
| Focus on Exposed Natural Tooth Area | Can address specific areas of natural tooth discoloration near crowns. | Does not change crown color; may still result in some color variations. |
Why Crowns Don't Whiten
The materials used for dental crowns, such as porcelain, zirconia, or composite resin, are fabricated to be stain-resistant and color-stable. Unlike natural tooth enamel, which has microscopic pores that allow whitening agents (like hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide) to penetrate and break down stain molecules, crown materials are solid and impermeable. This is why attempts to whiten crowns directly will not yield any results.
Ultimately, if you have crowns and want a significantly whiter smile, the path involves whitening your natural teeth to your desired shade and then working with your dentist to replace your existing crowns with new ones that precisely match your newly whitened teeth.
