Supersmile toothpaste Archives - Susan M. Dennis, D.D.S

Did Whitening Toothpaste Damage My Porcelain Veneers?

Posted on January 15, 2025 by writeradmin.

I need some advice. I have porcelain veneers and wanted to keep them shiny. I used a whitening toothpaste in order to take very good care of them. Then, I read something about the fact these toothpastes damage porcelain veneers and they’ll start picking up stains. I’ve been using the toothpaste for about six days and now I’m worried I’ve really messed up. If they start picking up stains, will teeth whitening bring them back? Should my dentist have warned me about what type of toothpaste to use?

Elena

Dear Elena,

I’m going to answer your last question first. Yes, your dentist should have given you instructions on how to care for your porcelain veneers. I’m glad you stopped using the whitening toothpaste. I don’t think in the small amount of time you used it that you will have much trouble with damage. If you’d been using it longer I would be more concerned.

You should be aware the teeth whitening will not change porcelain veneers. It only works on natural tooth structure. Because of that, I would like to recommend you read the information on this post on how to care for your veneers.

There is a whitening tooth paste that is safe for porcelain veneers. You could use Supersmile Toothpaste. This is specifically made for cosmetic dentist work and has a safe way of removing the stains on your veneers as well as your natural teeth without any risk to them.

Just in case you don’t get to check out that other post I linked for you, I want you to make absolutely sure that your dentist’s office does not use something like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride on your veneers. Those will damage the surface of your veneers and permanently damage them. I only say this because your dentist did not go over care of your smile makeover and I worry that his or her office will not know the right way to care for them and could inadvertently do damage.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Can I Whiten My Porcelain Veneers?

Posted on September 5, 2024 by writeradmin.

I have had porcelain veneers for about seven months. They started out very white, but have started picking up stains. I think it is because I drink a lot of coffee. That’s initially why I got porcelain veneers to begin with. That, and I have a chipped tooth. Is there a way for me to get these veneers back to how white they were when I first got them with something like teeth whitening?

Sara

Dear Sara,

For the benefit of others who may be reading this, I wanted to mention another option for improving your smile when it comes to the two things you mentioned: chips and discoloration. While you will find that porcelain veneers are the top of the line treatment for a smile makeover, you can find a suitable, less expensive option for those two things, if necessary. Another option is teeth whitening and dental bonding (for the chipped teeth). Dental bonding will not last as long as porcelain veneers, so you should expect to replace it periodically.

That being said, something has gone wrong with your porcelain veneers. The glazing on them should protect them from stains even better than your natural teeth would. Because of that, when they’re well cared for they will be white for quite some time, even if you drink coffee. You have only had yours for seven months so there should not be staining on them. If there is, the glazing has been damaged.

There are a few ways that this can happen. One of them is if you used something on the veneers which could damage them, such as over-the-counter whitening toothpastes. However, given the timing, this sounds more like your hygienist used something that damaged the glazing. It’s possible she used something like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride. This will scratch the glazing on your porcelain veneers, which in turn allows it to pick up stains.

While teeth whitening only works on natural tooth structure, they can polish them back up to their natural shine. This will take away the stains, but will not restore the glaze. If they were the ones to damage them, I think they should replace them.

If you are wanting to use a whitening toothpaste on your veneers, the only one I’d recommend is Supersmile Toothpaste. They use a protein pellicle, instead of an abrasive the way most whitening toothpastes do.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Can I Whiten Dental Bonding?

Posted on February 29, 2024 by writeradmin.

I had some dental bonding done on a couple of chips several years ago and they are really starting to stain. I’ve been told that teeth whitening does not work on dental bonding. My question is, while I know it can’t make it whiter than it was, can it get the bonding back to its original color? If not, will a whitening toothpaste help?

Mandy

Dear Mandy,

Tooth bleaching trays

I am glad you wrote. Unfortunately, teeth whitening will not have a positive impact on your dental bonding. In fact, it doesn’t work on any dental work. If you did whiten your teeth what would happen is your natural tooth color would get whiter, but the dental bonding would stay the same color. This would actually make your smile look worse than it does now because it would increase the difference in color for your teeth.

Most whitening toothpastes contain abrasives that will actually damage both your dental bonding and the enamel on your teeth. It will scrape off surface stains, but then there are are micro scratches on the surface of your teeth that will cause them to pick up stains even faster. These do more harm than good. There is only one brand of whitening toothpaste that I recommend — Supersmile Toothpaste. It won’t whiten the bonding, but it won’t harm either your bonding or your teeth. It can remove some surface stains from both.

The ideal thing to do is have this bonding replaced. If you are not in a financial position to afford replacing it, you could see if your dentist can polish it up a bit. This will depend on the type of fillers your dentist used on the surface part of the bonding. They would have needed to use microfills. An expert cosmetic dentist would have done this. However, some dentists who do not do a lot of cosmetic work will only carry general purpose fillers and those are not going to give you the high polish you’ll need to get them looking better.

When you are ready to replace them, you can whiten your teeth ahead of time and then have the new bonding made to match the whiter shade of your teeth. However, you will want to wait a week after in order to give the color time to settle.

This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Mouthwash and Porcelain Veneers

Posted on February 18, 2024 by writeradmin.

I have porcelain veneers and want to take good care of them. I generally use a homemade mouth wash. The ingredients are:
8 OZ FILTERED WATER
8 OZ OF 3% HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
2 TBS SEA SALT.

Is this safe to use on my porcelain veneers?

Benny

Dear Benny,

Nothing in that mixture will harm your porcelain veneers. I am a bit concerned the hydrogen peroxide. While that is a good way to kill bacteria in your mouth, it does not distinguish between good and bad bacteria. With constant use, other microbes will continue to grow in your mouth unchecked because there is not the right stuff there to keep it in check. One of those microbes is candida albicans. This will lead to an oral yeast infection and make you very uncomfortable.

If you use this mixture periodically, instead of daily, you should be okay. If you decide to use an over the counter mouthwash, just be certain that it does not contain any alcohol. That will eat away at the bonding on your porcelain veneers and put them at risk.

As for things you can do to care for your veneers, aside from keeping up with your dental appointments and daily oral hygiene, I recommend using Supersmile Toothpaste to clean your veneers. It is specifically designed to safely work with dental work.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.
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Supersmile or Teeth Whitening

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Dr. Dennis.

My dental bonding is looking a bit worse for wear. Would I be better off using Supersmile Toothpaste or should I get my teeth and bonding whitened?

Kelly

Dear Kelly,

A lot of what you do depends on the type of stains you are talking about. Supersmile toothpaste does a great job of taking off surface stains of teeth. Unlike other “whitening” kinds of toothpaste, which use abrasives to remove stains, Supersmile uses Calprox to dissolve the protein pellicle layer that covers your teeth. The stains will attach themselves to that pellicle removing the stains.

If you are talking about more than surface stains, meaning the stains have seeped into the bonding material, then it won’t work.

Unfortunately, neither will teeth whitening. Even professional whitening gel only works on natural tooth structure. This means your natural teeth will whiten, but your dental bonding (or any other dental work for that matter) won’t change. This will only serve to make the dental bonding look even worse.

Once stains have seeped into the bonding, it is time to replace it. If you’re looking for something more stain-resistant, that can last for many years, you may want to upgrade to porcelain veneers.

These are what people go to for a complete smile makeover. Some cosmetic dentists, like Dr. Dennis, offer digital smile designs, which allow you to see your makeover before any work is done.

This blog is brought to you by Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis or Kalamazoo, MI.