Veneer or crown for a root filled tooth?

[AGD]

Hello

I have a root filled front tooth which has discoloured since the root filling was done three years ago. Now the tooth is very discoloured and looks very dark brown in colour.

I have looked into the options for this tooth and quite like to have a veneer done for this tooth to hide the dark colour of the tooth. However my own dentist recommends a crown and says that a crown will be stronger than a porcelain veneers.

I would like to know if you would recommend a porcelain veneer or a crown for this tooth. I rather have whichever option that looks better at the end. Please advise.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

Generally speaking a root filled tooth that is discoloured should have a crown as its almost impossible to hide the discolouration of a very discoloured tooth with a thin veneer and the darkness of the tooth will show through the veneer as a grey/black colour and more than likely the result will be a cosmetic failure.

A crown has a core which can be an opaque colour and this will hide the tooth discoluration underneath more effectively. As always, I would recommed that we see you for a consultation and then we can give informed clinical advice.