If my dentist is making a new anterior crown, when should I bleach the rest of my teeth?

The absolute best time to bleach your teeth is before your dentist takes a final impression and picks a shade for your crown(s). This will allow him to pick a better shade for your crown. Sometimes patients wait until after their crown is finished to bleach their teeth, but this only works if the crown is noticeably lighter than a patients teeth prior to whitening. Although I sometimes do go along with this idea and choose a slightly lighter shade for a crown, it is clearly does not allow for the most predictable outcome.

Given the degree of difficulty involved with making a "natural" looking anterior crown restoration, clearly a good result is more achievable if the patient bleaches their teeth and then waits at least two weeks after before their dentists picks a shade to send to the lab.

After a crown is placed adjacent to freshly bleached teeth, I recommend my patient has a new custom whitening tray fabricated so they may perform "touch ups" down the road, when needed.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2017/07/if-my-dentist-is-making-new-anterior.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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