Interested in getting a tooth tattoo
A tooth tattoo is not actually a tattoo on your tooth but rather artwork that is part a dental crown or dental veneer. The artwork gets painted onto a dental crown before finishing firing the porcelain. A dentist will usually, but not always, need to get you numb. Next the dentist will prepare the tooth by removing some of the outside layer of the tooth structure. The steps are not any different than the steps a dentist takes to create a dental crown. The difference is the artist making the crown paints the tattoo before baking the porcelain crown.
We have a video on the first phase of treatment on our dental crown page. The second phase for you are a patient is when you return to get your artwork. We cement the dental crown in after verifying the fit. After that you are done!
Want to know the tooth tattoo cost?
In our office the fee has a range that depends on how complex the image you want is and how many colors the image has. The more complex the more it costs and the more colors cost more as well. It’s important to try to keep the image simple as possible. This is because the image will be very small and thus will be hard to see if made too intricate. The fee ranges from about $1,600 to $2,000. This fee is for a tooth tattoo on a single crown or veneer and includes the price of the crown or veneer.
To see what a crown or veneer costs in your area we recommend you check out the fair health consumer website. The dental code you need to type in is D2740. Since most people are doing this for a tooth that needs a crown, dental insurance will cover some of this fee. However, any insurance will cover the fee at a much lower percentage as they will not pay anything towards the up charge for the art work. Our up charge from a single unit veneer is about $100-500. These prices are 2017 fees.
What kind of artwork can you have on your tooth tattoo?
You can have anything you want as a tooth tattoo. However, the art must be simple enough to show on a very small surface area. Logos are probably the easiest thing to do.
Aaron Hoffman at Sunflower dental lab does them. Many labs offer tooth tattoos but I like this one particular artist’s work.
What if I want to remove my tooth tattoo in the future?
Removing a tooth tattoo is usually a simple procedure. Since teeth tattoo are placed on the surface they can often be polished out without getting numb.