Tag Archives: stains on porcelain veneers

Zoom Whitening

Will Zoom Whitening Refresh My Porcelain Veneers?

I have had my porcelain veneers for a little over seven months. Everything was fine, but recently I have noticed that they have begun taking on stains. I tried over-the-counter teeth whitening strips, but they do not seem to be helping. My dentist does zoom whitening. Would that help?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

a porcelain veneer being held up to a tooth

The glaze on porcelain veneers are very stain resistant. In fact, they are more stain resistant than your natural teeth. If they are picking up stains then something has damaged the glazing that protects them.

You mentioned that you have had them for a bit over seven months. This is enough time for you to go in for a check up and cleaning.  It is possible that the hygienist was unaware that using a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride could damage the glazing.

My suggestion is you ask your hygienist what he or she used during your appointment. If they damaged the veneers then they should be the ones to repair them.

Unfortunately, Zoom Whitening will not help. Teeth whitening only works on natural tooth structure, not dental work. This is also why the over the counter strips didn’t work.

The good news is that there is a way to repair the glazing. If your dentist does not know how, have him cover the expense of having an expert cosmetic dentist do that for you.

Once they are repaired, I recommend you use Supersmile Toothpaste. It is specifically designed to keep dental work in top shape. It can even remove coffee stains without any damage to your porcelain veneers.

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

Porcelain Veneers

does smoking stain porcelain veneers?

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,

A single porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

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.