I have four porcelain veneers. They look fine but my natural teeth that are next to them are darker than the color I wanted for the porcelain veneers. If I wanted to whiten my teeth with Crest Whitestrips, would it damage the porcelain veneers?
Laura
Dear Laura,
I am glad you like your porcelain veneers. I am curious as to whether or not your dentist suggested you whiten your teeth before getting your porcelain veneers. Four veneers are not enough to cover the teeth that are visible when you smile. Generally, a smile is eight to ten teeth wide. If you are not going to get that many porcelain veneers, which is quite common, then the dentist should have recommended you have your teeth whitened before you have your porcelain veneers done. This way the veneers can be made to match the new whiter color of your teeth.
That didn’t appear to happen, which baffles me. It is porcelain veneers 101. That being said, there is a solution. I don’t think that Crest Whitestrips, while they do whiten teeth (albeit very slowly) are your best option. First, they are quite weak and will take longer than you would probably want. Second, they only cover the front six teeth. You have porcelain veneers on four of those, that means you would only get two teeth whitened.
While you could cut them in half and try to work it that way, that is not very convenient. My suggestion is that you speak to your dentist. He can make you whitening trays to work around your porcelain veneers. It will whiten your teeth much faster.
This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.