Why do molars with bands turn a grey color?

[S_Ranger]

I've noticed when I was browsing through some pictures that patients with molar bands have gotten their teeth a weird color. What's the cause of this? I'm noticing the same effect on my upper molars.

[mackenzie]

I think it's because teeth are sort of transluscent, semi-see through, so you see some of the metal color showing through them.

[amychelle]

It is because the outter layer of your teeth is not actually white, only the pulp inside makes your teeth appear the opaque color. The outter layers of you teeth are more transparent and pick up the color of the molor bands - teeth without molar bands pick up the white of the pulp of your teeth. Teeth with silver fillings also appear a greyish color due to the same fact.

I asked my dentist about this because it seemed to me that my teeth were extremley thin compared to other peoples, that I could see color through them such as the pink of my tounge or red of candy, etc. He told essentially what I just told you.

If you'll notice people with bonding, veneres, or dentures appear to have extremely white teeth, it's because it is white and not just transmitting color like normal teeth.

And of course, when I use the term white, you understand that I mean the eggshell white of average people teeth, not the "I've bleached my teeth so many times that my agent is having trouble getting me a movie deal" white. (that is just annoying to me.)

[jaws]

This is good to know! As you can see from the pic below, my banded molars look pretty grey, and I was worried about it!