Tag Archives: stained bonding

Can Dental Bonding be Whitened?

I have dental bonding that is almost 15 years old. It has lasted longer than I expected and I know it is time to replace it, I just don’t have the money at the moment. I know you can’t make dental bonding any whiter with teeth whitening, but will it at least get it back to the color it originally had?

Mazie

Dear Mazie,

Unfortunately, teeth whitening in this case will only make things look worse. It will whiten the natural tooth structure, but the dental bonding itself will remain the same. This will make the difference striking, but not in the good way.

One possiblitilty to make these look better in the meantime is to get them polished by a cosmetic dentist. This will help if the stains are surface stains. However, if the stains are internal to the bonding material, then that will not help either.

In that case, your best bet is to do nothing and save up for the replacement. While there are some cosmetic procedures (such as teeth whtiening) where the cosmetic expertise and artistry of the dentist does not matter, which will allow you to price shop, dental bonding is not one of them.

It will be important when you do get them replaced, it is with someone that has real skill and artistic talent. These have to be done freehand. When it is not done well, it is a disaster.

You may check see if your dentist works with Care Credit. Some do. This is a medical credit card. Fortunately, its payment plans and interest are significantly lower than consumer credit cards. This will allow you to get the bonding replaced and then pay out the fee a ittle at a time.

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