The present disclosure provides a metal based dental article and a method of forming the metal based dental article. The metal based dental article includes a base layer, a first coating on the base layer and a second coating on the first coating. The base layer is formed from a metal substrate selected from the group consisting of a stainless steel, a titanium alloy or a nickel titanium alloy. The first coating is formed from a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, a nickel alloy, copper, a copper alloy, zinc, a zinc alloy, tin, a tin alloy, gold or a gold alloy, where one of the first coating or the surface of the base layer has a surface roughness (R a ) from 0.1 to 1.0 microns as measured according to ASTM B46.1-2009. The second coating is formed from a metal selected from the group consisting of rhodium, a rhodium alloy, ruthenium, a ruthenium alloy, cobalt, a cobalt alloy, palladium, or a palladium alloy. The second coating has a predetermined thickness that provides the metal based dental article with a matte finish and a whiteness, L*, of at least 80 of the CIELAB color system (L*, a*, B*).