Insight 92 — Color Matching Laminate Veneers and Crowns in One Case: Solving the Problem Step by Step

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Clinical Explanation

Question

When we treat laminate veneers and crowns at the same time in one case, how is color matching between the two managed?

Answer

The goal is for all the restorations to look like one visually. The best situation is that if the veneers are e.max, the crowns are e.max too, because the same material reduces the color difference. But in practice many of us order the crowns in zirconia and the veneers in e.max.

Even if we make them all in e.max, there is still a color difference, because the final color does not depend only on the material; the stump shade, the thickness of the restoration, the color of the cement and other factors also affect it. A veneer is thin, and the color of the tooth beneath it and the color of the cement contribute a great deal to its final color, while a crown is thicker and behaves differently with light. In zirconia, too, the value is usually higher and the chroma lower than what we expect from the shade.

The method I use is simple and works with zirconia crowns as well. After I have the patient's overall approval, I permanently cement the veneers first. Once cemented, the veneers reach their final color, and their color does not change after that.

After this stage I move on to the zirconia crowns and match their color to what is already in the mouth. In other words, I approach the problem as if the mouth were complete and I were making a crown for just one tooth, with the cemented veneers playing the role of the adjacent teeth.

The logic of this method is that instead of matching two variables to each other at the same time, we fix one and harmonize the other with it. As long as the veneers are not cemented, their final color is unknown, and matching the crown to them is in effect matching to a moving target. Once the veneers are cemented, we have a fixed color reference and the problem is solved in stages.

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