Teeth Too White?
By Dr. Linda Niessen
Monday, October 14, 2002
STORY: TOO WHITE?
SCRIPT #482 SHOOT: 9/4/02
AIRDATE: Monday, Oct. 14, 2002
DHC Master #16 Timecode: 49:45
Can your teeth be too white?
“I didn’t like the fact that when I put my lipstick on in the morning that my teeth looked really yellow,” says whitening patient Cindy Irons. Irons bleached her teeth before having cosmetic dentistry. “I feel like it took about 10 years off my face,” she says. Bleached teeth can turn as white as aspirin. New shades for all porcelain bridges and crowns help match the whitest, bleached teeth. “There was a time, not too long ago, where I would ask patients to please stop bleaching," says dentist Dr. Susan Hollar. "The company that makes porcelains and composites have translucent shades, enamel shades and dentin shades that go into the whiter realms, beyond what natural teeth can be.” “I feel like they look very natural,” Irons says. Can your teeth be too white? “I haven’t experienced that. I don’t feel like mine are,” she says. "I’ve had people say 'I want you to make mine the whitest teeth you’ve ever made,'" says Dr. Hollar. "Aesthetic and cosmetic dentistry should only enhance the patient’s face, see the whole face and not just the patient’s teeth.” If you want to bleach your teeth, do it before having any bonding or porcelain procedures. That way, every shade is a perfect perfect match. 
Yellow teeth have never been attractive. And today, many Americans want a white smile you can only get by using dentist prescribed bleaching.
Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.
