Bleaching Non-Veneered Teeth

Posted by writeradmin

My four front teeth have porcelain veneers. These are fine, but the natural teeth have picked up stains. I would like to whiten the natural teeth and wondered if Crest Whitestrips could do that without damaging the porcelain veneers?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

Crest Whitestrips will work without damaging your veneers. Teeth whitening, in general, will only whiten your natural teeth. However, there are a couple of disadvantages for you in using the Crest Whitestrips.

First, they only cover the front six teeth. Four of those have porcelain veneers on them and you want to whiten the teeth adjacent to those. You may be able to cut the strips in half and try to get them on the exact teeth you need or use two strips. However, that is a lot of trouble and a bit messy. A second issue is their strength. Crest Whitestrips usually run about 6% concentration on the peroxide because they are sold over the counter. This would require you to purchase a LOT of kits to get the adjacent teeth as white as your porcelain veneers.

In all honesty, it would save you time, money, and hassle if you just had this done with a dentist. The gel will be much stronger. Generally, dentists use about a 33% concentration. You will whiten much faster that way. They’ll also use bleaching trays similar to what you see pictured above, which can even be tailored to fit around your porcelain veneers.

In most cosmetic dentistry procedures, I would warn against price shopping because there are important skills involved. However, teeth whitening is a completely different story. Any dentist should be able to do it. Shopping around will not be a risk in this case.

I hope this helps. By the way, I would like to recommend Supersmile Toothpaste for your use with your porcelain veneers. It has a way of keeping your teeth and veneers white without any abrasives.

This blog is brought to you by Mt. Dora Dentist Dr. Michelle Stillman.