I had dental bonding placed on my two front teeth because of a chipped tooth. It’s only been close to seven months and it is already turning yellow. Would teeth whitening help get it back up to par?
Katherine
Dear Katherine,
Teeth whitening will work on your natural tooth structure, but not your dental bonding. This will end up making it look worse, not better. If dental bonding starts picking up stains, the only thing to do is replace it. That being said, seven months is not a long time to have dental bonding before problems develop. It is, however, long enough for you to have had a dental checkup and cleaning. This makes me wonder if the hygienist used anything on you like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride? If so, they will have damaged the bonding and made it vulnerable to picking up stains. If that is the case, then they should definitely repair this for you at their cost.
Another possibility is that you’ve been using a toothpaste, such as over-the-counter whitening toothpaste or baking soda. These use abrasives to achieve their whitening results, which in the long-term is bad for your teeth and your bonding. I would still ask your dentist to repair this. After all, it doesn’t sound like they told you how to care for them and it really should last longer than just a few months.
If you are looking for a toothpaste that can keep your dental work nice and shiny, as well as your natural teeth, without any damaging abrasives, my suggestion would be to get Supersmile Toothpaste. This uses an agent that breaks down the stains naturally instead of scrubbing them off, leaving the enamel to your teeth and the glaze to your dental work completely intact.
This blog is brought to you by La Jolla Dentist Dr. Stephen Doan.