I got a great Groupon teeth whitening deal about a month ago. I started using it the same week. My natural teeth are whiter but 4 of the teeth that I have bonding on haven’t changed at all. The 4 teeth were almost broken in half in an accident in 2003. I stopped smoking in November and I wanted to get my teeth whitening. The kit has a good percentage of peroxide in it so I’m a little surprised that the bonding hasn’t changed. Should I leave the whitening gel on longer, or is there some pretreatment I need to do to get the bonding at least a little lighter? Avery
Avery – The appearance of your dental bonding can be improved, but not with your teeth whitening kit. Bleaching will only affect your natural teeth and make your stained bonding even more noticeable.
If your dental bonding was relatively new, a skilled cosmetic dentist might have been able to polish it and make the stains less noticeable. But since you’ve had the bonding for years, it can be replaced. After your teeth are as white as you want them, you can ask a cosmetic dentist to change your dental bonding to match your natural teeth.
- The existing bonding will be removed from your teeth.
- Your teeth will be cleaned and prepared for new dental bonding.
- Your cosmetic dentist will mix dental composite to match the color and translucence of your natural teeth.
- The bonding will be cured and polished.
It’s important to wait at least two weeks after you’ve completed your whitening treatment before you get dental bonding. Your teeth will continue to whiten for a few days after treatment, and the color needs to stabilize. Your cosmetic dentist will let you know when it’s safe to replace the bonding.
This post is sponsored by Baton Rouge dentist Dr. Steven Collins.