How to darken the color of a plastic tooth?

Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
8
Hello,
Several weeks ago, I got a plastic tooth from a dentist who said that he would put a whiter plastic tooth because such plastic tooth becomes darker in 1-2 weeks. However, it is already over 6 weeks, and the plastic tooth is still much brighter than other teeth around it. See the image attached.
Can I darken the color of this plastic tooth?
I tried to put a paste based on coffee powder and later blueberry powder on this teeth and kept it for 1-2 min, but there were no effects.
What else can be done?
Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • tooth.jpg
    tooth.jpg
    26.1 KB · Views: 360

MattKW

Verified Dentist
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Messages
2,080
Solutions
152
No, plastic teeth don't change colour over time if it's good quality. You can't change colour, so go back to dentist and have it changed.
 

Vote:
Joined
Dec 11, 2018
Messages
1
Unfortunately nothing can be done to really change the color once the veneer has been cemented. Before cementation your doctor should have tried different shade of cements to change the color. Veneers are transparent and shade can be altered by using different shaded cements. If the color of the veneer is too far off, pigmentation can be added to the veneer to change the color further. It helps if the veneer is fabricated in the office so that these changes can be made while you wait and you are there to try in the veneer before it is permanently cemented. Matching a single tooth to natural teeth is a challenge but if care is taken along with an understanding of the materials a match can be achieved. Hang in there until the veneer is replaced.
 

Vote:
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
8
I emailed the dentist who made this tooth, and he said that the tooth is acrylic....
Acrylic teeth get darker with time - there are research papers online.... Sorry for the misunderstanding I created.
My acrylic tooth is still whiter maybe because I never had coffee, tea, red wine, cola, etc. in all these months. I also use Colgate Total that has whitening effects...
Which methods can I use to make this acrylic tooth little darker? It seems that it became slightly darker in these 3 months.
 
Last edited:

Vote:

MattKW

Verified Dentist
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Messages
2,080
Solutions
152
No, they don't get darker. I don't know what research papers you have found, but I made dentures for 20 years+ with acrylic teeth, and they don't change colour.
 

Vote:
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
8
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608047/
Results:
Coffee caused the greatest colour change in Apple acrylic teeth after six weeks (mean ΔE of 4.6 for coffee and 3.4 for tea and cola). Tea caused an almost equal colour change in the three groups. The greatest colour change in the Ivoclar teeth occurred in cola after six weeks (mean ΔE of 3.3, 3.4 and 2.8 for cola, tea and coffee, respectively). The greatest ΔE occurred at six weeks and was the highest in Apple, followed by PolyDent and then Ivoclar teeth in coffee (mean ΔE of 4.6, 3.4 and 3.3, respectively p < 0.001).

http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1852-48342013000300002
Tukey's post-hoc test showed that the lowest color changes were for water and cola, which were undistinguishable from each other; coffee produced the second lowest color change; yerba mate tea produced second greatest color change, while the greatest color change was produced by red wine. Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that almost all the solutions used can change color in acrylic resin, especially yerba mate tea, considered distinguishable by professionals, and red wine, considered distinguishable by patients and clinically unacceptable.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...eth_Materials_against_Various_Staining_Agents
The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the color stability of two brands of porcelain teeth and three brands of acrylic denture teeth. Samples were immersed into three staining drinks as test groups and distilled water as a control. Color measurements of teeth were performed by using a spectrophotometer. Before immersion, the initial color value of each tooth was recorded. Color change values were determined after 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks of immersion. Color differences were characterized using the CIE L*a*b* color space. The color stability of all teeth was significantly affected by the immersion period (p<0.0001). Instant coffee was found to be the most chromogenic agent among the solutions tested (p<0.0001). Among the materials tested, porcelain was found to be more resistant to discoloration. It was concluded that acrylic teeth showed a higher degree of color change and that the amount of color change for each group increased proportionally with time.
 

Vote:

MattKW

Verified Dentist
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Messages
2,080
Solutions
152
I don't know why you're arguing so much. If you're hoping your denture tooth will change colour then you are mistaken. Your references are:
  1. " It has been reported that colour change due to exposure to tea is very superficial and can be easily removed by tooth brushing. With regard to coffee, colour change occurs due to the superficial and deep absorption of stains and, thus, cleaning is more difficult. However, only a small number of polar coffee stains penetrate deep into the restorative material [9]. Since tea is a highly popular drink, especially in the Middle Eastern countries, dentists must inform the patients regarding the colour change of the acrylic teeth due to exposure to tea. It has been recommended that patients should brush their teeth immediately after drinking tea."
    So, if you soak your teeth in tea or coffee without cleaning, then they'll get some stain.
  2. Referring to the staining of denture bases, not the teeth. Irrelevant.
  3. "Between the different immersion intervals, the experimental tooth specimens were not subjected to
    any cleaning procedure, which might not accurately reflect clinical conditions. Thus, the results obtainedherein might serve to reveal the consequences of a low quality denture care."
    So, the teeth weren't cleaned at all during the study.

    Why don't you go back to the dentist to change this tooth instead of wasting time tracking down research article which don't pertain to your situation? You are not going to be able to darken that tooth.
 

Vote:
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
8
Thanks for looking into it! Merry Christmas. Maybe I will try very diluted acetone first to darken the tooth slightly - it reacts very well with acrylic. It is some risk but may work in this case....
 

Vote:

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
7,566
Messages
22,149
Members
11,345
Latest member
Zelma85C07

Latest Threads

Top