Your smile is as unique as you are. That’s why choosing the best color for your porcelain veneers requires some thoughtful consideration about your needs and desires. We recommend that you keep a few things in mind when designing your smile.

Porcelain Veneers

Your Image

Your first consideration should be what image you’re trying to create. Are you looking for a “Hollywood” smile that would look at home on the red carpet? Or do you want a more natural look that simply improves your tooth color a shade or two? With a choice of 16 natural shades and four bleaching shades, porcelain veneers can accomplish any look you want.

Number of Veneers

Some patients want porcelain veneers to fix a broken tooth or cover a few discolored teeth. Others are looking for a full smile makeover.

Placing four or more veneers often makes it easier to create a more consistent color for your entire smile. However, our talented ceramists are capable of matching even one veneer to the color of your existing teeth, if that is what you choose.

Translucency Matters

Color isn’t the only consideration when matching veneers to your natural teeth. The level of translucency is another important factor. Some people’s teeth are more translucent than others, which can affect the ability of the ceramist to match the porcelain veneer to the surrounding teeth.

Porcelain looks so natural because it has the same translucent quality as tooth enamel, meaning that both materials allow light to enter and be reflected back out. With the natural tooth, light enters the enamel and then bounces off of the underlying tooth dentin. With veneers, light enters the porcelain and is reflected by the cement that is used to bond the veneer in place. For this reason, the tint applied to the cement also is an important contributing factor to the final color of the porcelain veneer.

It is important to communicate with your dentist throughout the process about your expectations and satisfaction with the final result. Keep in mind that, if you are dissatisfied with the look of your new veneers when you try them on, you and your dentist can work with the ceramist to try different shades of cement.

As you can see, creating beautiful, natural-looking veneers is as much art as it is science, so make sure you are working with an experienced and trained cosmetic dentist and ceramist. Our Houston cosmetic dentists would be happy to consult with you about the best color for your porcelain veneers. Call us today at 713-701-1783.