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I just had bonding done on my 3 front teeth to make them longer. I wanted my dentist to use a lighter shade of composite bc I will be bleaching next week. It doesn't really make sense to me why he did the bonding before bleaching as one would think you would want to match the bonding color to the newly bleached color. Also, my teeth are currently A1 and they look yellow to me. My dentists teeth are b2 and are bright white. He says that A1 is the lightest shade. It doesn't make any sense. My teeth are otherwise in good shape, I'm just not happy with A1 color.
Optional Information: Person's Gender: Female Person's Age: 32
Welcome to JustAnswer, and thank you for putting your trust in me!I agree.The response of tooth enamel to whitening treatments is variable and unpredictable, and it does not make sense to make any attempt at color matching until the color that is to be matched has been established. I cannot comment on why teeth whose color have been determined to correspond to shade Vita A1 would appear darker or more yellow than teeth with a B2 shade, other than to concur that the various Vita shades of equivalent number (i.e., A1, B1, C1, and D1) are of equivalent "value" (brightness), and differ only in "chroma" (hue, color), so a true A1 would be brighter than B2. It should be noted that the perceived brightness of any color is highly dependent on ambient lighting conditions, so when shades are compared, it is vital that they be compared under consistent lighting. Inconsistent lighting may be responsible for the apparent paradox of B2 being whiter than A1. Of course, your dentist also may have been less than accurate when designating your tooth color as A1.I should point out two issues that, while unrelated to the intent of your question, are important to note. First-- composite resin does not always have the best color stability, and can stain over time in some people's mouths due to intrinsic mouth chemistry, dietary factors, indulgence in tobacco, etc. Also, because composite resin is fundamentally a different material than natural tooth enamel and has different optical properties (refractive index, opacity, color gradient, fluorescence), resin repairs will always be at least slightly visible, no matter how good a color match is obtained. Secondly, composite resin does not always fare very well in the long run when it is placed on the parts of the teeth that receive chewing contact-- resin is much softer than natural tooth enamel, and will chip and wear, and the bond to the tooth will occasionally fail. You should keep this in mind if you intend to move forward with your resin tooth lengthening, and make sure your dentist discusses alternative options that may be more cosmetically appealing and durable (e.g., crowns or laminate veneers).Hope this helps...
Experience: 35 years experience, member Academy of General Dentistry