Expert: Tony Appleton BDS DPDS - 2/2/2009

Question
My daughter broke one of her top front teeth when a child, 6 years ago.  She had root canal treatment at the time and the tooth was rebuilt with a composite filling. Only about 30% of her original tooth remained and this became slightly grey with time. Last week she had a veneer put on the tooth to replace the composite filling which was disintegrating. Unfortunately the new tooth appears grey, apparently because her discoloured original tooth is showing through.
Is this an unusual problem? Could different material be used for the veneer which would avoid the grey showing through?
My dentist now suggests that she should have bleaching treatment(or more than one treatment if necessary)on the original tooth, without removing the veneer.  Do you think this is the  best option?
Might bleaching cause damage to the root canal filling which has not given any trouble up until now?

Answer
Hi Cat

Bleaching can be a bit hit and miss for this type of problem - it may be worth trying, although the dentist needs to be sure the top of the root canal is properly sealed before doing any internal bleaching.

Replacing the veneer may well be the better option, and yes, different materials can be used to mask the discolouration.

Regards

Tony Appleton