I have four porcelain veneers on my very front teeth. They are still beautiful, but the surrounding teeth have picked up stains and look quite yellow compared to the veneered teeth. I’m thinking of using Crest Whitestrips to get rid of those stains, but don’t want to damage the veneers in the process. Will this be okay?
Marilyn
Dear Marilyn,
First, your porcelain veneers will not be damaged by any teeth whitening efforts. Only natural tooth structure is affected. If you are going to use an over-the-counter whitening product, the only one which I currently feel is safe for your natural teeth is Crest Whitestrips.
Other over-the-counter products have ingredients that damage your teeth. This includes whitening toothpastes which use abrasives to remove the stains. The problem with that is that it etches your teeth. Yes, they will be whiter for a time, but because the tooth enamel was damaged they will pick up stains again quickly and end up more stained than they were before. Crest Whitestrips don’t do this and are a safe option.
There is a caveat to this, though. In your situation, it wouldn’t be the ideal. The whitening gel is attached to strips that you will place on your teeth. The problem is they only cover the first six teeth. This is practically useless to you. You could cut them in half and try to place them on the adjacent teeth. However, not only is this a lot of unnecessary work, but you will have to do it much longer than you’d want to.
Any over-the-counter whitening will be significantly weaker than professional teeth whitening. I’m going to suggest if you are going to whiten your teeth to do it right. Having your dentist make you teeth whitening trays and provide you the real deal with whitening gel will do the job much faster and get all the teeth you need whitened.
Another Option to Teeth Whitening
Most smiles, like yours, are much wider than four teeth. If you can afford it you may want to invest in porcelain veneers on the other visible teeth. These are much more stain-resistant than your natural teeth and will last for many years.
This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI holistic dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.