I have porcelain veneers. They still look fine, but the natural teeth they have are beginning to stain again. I drink a lot of coffee so that is probably why. I want to bleach my teeth using Crest Whitestrips, but want to make sure they won’t damage my porcelain veneers first.

Brenda

Dear Brenda,

Crest Whitestrips will whiten your teeth slowly without damaging your porcelain veneers, but it will be a bit of a hassle. It will only cover six of your teeth tops and I am guessing that four of those are veneered. In order to get any of your natural teeth covered, you will either have to cut the strip in half, which will be messy or use two of them, one on each side of your veneers. That is double the strips. If you consider that the strength is only a fraction of what you would get with your dentist than you can see you will need to purchase many kits to get the results you will likely want to see.

My suggestion is that you see your dentist and ask him to make you some teeth whitening trays. He can even have them cut around your veneers if you don’t want the whitening gel to have access to them. You will find your teeth will whiten much faster and you will be safer under the care of a professional.

One word about the picking up of stains from your coffee. I am going to suggest that you purchase a product called Supersmile Toothpaste. This is specifically designed to care for cosmetic dental work, such as porcelain veneers, all while safely removing stains from your teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.