I am almost done paying for my porcelain veneers. I’m a little worried because they have started picking up stains around the edges. I do smoke. I’m wondering if my smoking is the problem. If so, shouldn’t my dentist have warned me about this? I was told they were very stain resistant. What should I do?

Ben

Dear Ben,

As long as your porcelain veneers still have their glaze, they are very stain resistant. In fact, they are more stain-resistant than your natural teeth. However, there are things that can damage the glaze. If your hygienist used something like a power prophy jet during your cleaning, or even acidulated fluoride, the glazing would be damaged enough.

Once that happens, they quickly begin to pick up stains. I don’t think this is your problem, though. If that were to happen, the staining would be over the whole tooth and you’re saying it’s just on the edges.

To me, this is saying the major problem you’re facing is with the resin which is used to bond your porcelain veneers to your teeth. Your dentist likely polished these when you first had the veneers placed. However, these can stain. They’ll stain faster if you smoke.

Your cosmetic dentist who did the work should have told you what needs to be done to care for them. Here is a great link about regular maintenance for your porcelain veneers.

In the meantime, you still need to have these stains dealt with. I want you to go back to your cosmetic dentist and have him polish the sides. They should use an ultra-fine polishing strip in this area and a special ultra-fine aluminum oxide polishing paste. This will help with the staining and increase the longevity of your smile investment.

Don’t have your family dentist try to do this. Most of the time, knowledge like this is limited to those who’ve studied cosmetic dentistry.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. Mike Malone.