Can I Whiten My Porcelain Veneers?
Posted by writeradmin
I have porcelain veneers. I’ve had loved them but they are getting coffee stains on them. My dentist told me that there was no way to whiten them after they were made, but is there a way to get them as white as they were at the beginning?
Laslo
Dear Laslo,
I’m glad you wrote. Teeth whitening will not work on anything but natural tooth structure. The problem is more complicated than that anyway.
Porcelain veneers have a glaze on them which is very stain resistant. In fact, they are more stain resistant than even your natural tooth enamel. If it is picking up stains, then that means the glaze has been damaged somehow. There are a couple of ways that can happen.
First, if you use an abrasive toothpaste, like a whitening toothpaste, it will scratch the glazing on both your porcelain veneers as well as your natural teeth, which will cause your teeth to begin picking up stains.
A second option is if the hygienist in your dental office damaged them. This can happen if they used something like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride. If the stains started happening shortly after a checkup and cleaning, then that would be my first guess.
If the glaze has been damaged, then a diamond polishing kit can get them to shine again. The other option is to replace them. If your dentist’s office damaged them, then you may be able to get them to pay for the replacement. However, it may be tricky to prove it was them.
Once your porcelain veneers are in good shape again, you can help keep surface stains off of them by using Supersmile Toothpaste. This is specifically designed to be used with cosmetic dental work. It safely removes stains with a chemical compound instead of abrasives.
I hope this helps. This blog is brought to you by a gentle dentist in Moline Dr. Thomas Goebel.