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7 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Colour For Your Porcelain Veneers (Updated 2021)

SMILE CONCEPTS
10 AUG 2021

Undergoing a smile transformation can be a life-changing experience. You want your investment to be one that you’re thrilled to show off each day. With dental veneers, you can take the results to the next level. But one crucial detail can significantly impact the way your new smile looks: the colour of your teeth.

By choosing the best colour for your porcelain veneers, you can help your teeth look healthier, vibrant, and more youthful than they have in years. But go too white and it could look unnatural or too dark and it may not be quite what you’re looking for. Here are a few tips for selecting the optimal porcelain shade:

1. Look for Photos of What You Like

real case of composite veneers vs porcelain

Feel free to bring photos to your consultation to show us what you’re looking for. Perhaps it’s a friend’s teeth, a clipping from a magazine, or even examples of what you don’t like. This gives us a great starting point for selecting the best colour (and size and shape) of veneer for your smile.

2. Evaluate Your Teeth in Different Types of Lighting

The light in the room around you can impact the appearance of the colour. You may want to hold up a shade guide next to your smile in natural lighting (outside or near a window) and again in artificial light.

3. Consider the Adjacent Teeth

How many dental veneers do you need? If any of your other teeth will be visible when you’re smiling, you’ll want to take their colour into consideration. You may need to whiten your teeth first, or slightly match the veneers to those teeth so as not to appear unnatural.

4. Don’t Go for the Whitest White

There are various levels of shades and hues of tooth enamel. Some have underlying hints of browns or yellows, all of which are quite natural. Choosing absolutely stark white porcelain will result in an unnatural-looking result.

5. Ask to See Other Before-and-After Photos

composite veneers compare to porcelain veneers

Consider looking at smile makeover cases with various shades of porcelain to see what each one looks like against similar skin tones. That’s right; the colour of your new veneers also needs to look natural against your skin and lips.

6. Plan a Mock-Up

Part of your smile makeover experience may include a diagnostic wax-up. This mock-up is a model of your proposed veneer design, including everything from their colour to how they’re shaped. You can preview what they look like (even trying them on your own teeth) before the permanent porcelain versions are made at the lab.

7. Work with an Experienced Dentist

7 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Colour For Your Porcelain Veneers (Updated 2021)

Dr Shah has placed thousands of veneers over the years. Colour is just one aspect to keep in mind. By having an experienced cosmetic provider on your side, you’ll gain firsthand knowledge of what it takes to achieve the best results.

Contact Smile Concepts in Sydney or Five Dock today to reserve a no-fuss consultation.

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Dr_Manish_Shah
Dr Manish Shah

Dr. Manish Shah is a cosmetic dentist with a special interest in porcelain veneers, dental implants and Invisalign in Sydney. He is also a medical doctor with an expertise in sleep & craniofacial pain medicine practising at Smile Concepts.