I have porcelain veneers. I thought I’d asked for a whiter color than I received. I spoke to my dentist about it and he said it is too late because they are already bonded on. Surely there is something I can do. Will Zoom Whitening work? I hear it is stronger than regular teeth whitening?
Emily
Dear Emily,
I’m sorry about your porcelain veneers being disappointing. It sounds like your dentist is more of a bread and butter dentist than someone with good cosmetic dentistry training.
A true cosmetic dentist would try on the porcelain veneers with a temporary try-in paste and allow you to look at them in a variety of lights to make sure you are happy with the results. If you weren’t, then they would re-do them before bonding them on permanently. It sounds like your dentist just bonded them on without giving you a chance to approve them.
Unfortunately, Zoom whitening will not help the color of the porcelain veneers.They will only work on natural tooth structure. Once veneers are bonded on they can’t be changed. However, that does not mean that they can’t be redone. I’m curious if you have documentation about the color you requested as opposed to what you received. That would help. Either way, I would start by asking him to redo them because they are not the color you wanted. Hopefully, he will do the right thing.
If you do have documentation of what you requested versus what you received, then you could take it to another cosmetic dentist and they may be willing to contact them on your behalf. Sometimes dentists are more willing to listen to their peers. Smile makeovers are not adequately taught in dental school, so you’ll want someone with post-doctoral training.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.