Dental bonding using natural tooth-coloured composite resin is a marvel for:
However, it's a less-than-marvelous experience if you've ever whitened your teeth only to have your bonded teeth remain the same colour as your pre-whitened teeth.
Learn why that happens and what steps you can take to keep your smile perfectly brilliant.
Teeth whitening products and procedures provide an effective, simple way to remove stains caused by foods, drinks, and habits over time. Teeth-staining culprits include juicy and colourful berries, tomato-based sauces, coffee, tea, caffeinated soda, and red wine, not to mention smoking and chewing tobacco.
Trying to whiten bonded teeth, however, is a different story.
The colour of the bonding resin and porcelain is designed to match your natural tooth colour. Once they are bonded to your natural teeth, only dental professionals should be able to tell which teeth are bonded.
Unlike tooth enamel, though, bonding resin is nonporous. On your natural teeth, stains form when the staining agents penetrate your teeth's pores, and whitening agents penetrate the surface of your teeth to whiten them.
The nonporous nature of resin prevents whitening agents from penetrating them. As a result, your resin-bonded teeth can look stained or discoloured in certain areas due to the contrast with your bleached natural teeth. Like any plastic item, resin can become discoloured over time when exposed to various staining agents.
Simply put, bonding resin can appear stained, but you can't whiten it with tooth-whitening products.
The best time to whiten your natural teeth is before you have a bonding procedure. That way, your teeth are at their whitest when your dental professional colour-matches the bonding resin. If you keep your teeth white with good oral care and touch-up treatments, your natural and bonded teeth will continue to match.
However, if you've had a bonding procedure in the past and now wish to whiten your teeth, what should you do? Since your bonded tooth might be discoloured and won't respond to the whitening agent, you have two choices:
Talk to your dental professionals about your options.
Keeping the following in mind will help ensure you have a positive tooth-whitening experience at home using over-the-counter or dentist-prescribed whitening products:
For an optimum and safe experience, consult with your dental professional about whitening your teeth in the dentist's chair. While there, you can talk about procedures to lighten your bonded teeth.
If you're considering tooth bonding, particularly for cosmetic purposes, be sure to consult with your dentist about teeth whitening before the bonding procedure and how you'll handle staining issues in the future. And if you have bonded teeth that aren't as white as they used to be, your dentist is also a good source to learn how to lighten them, so they're as white as your natural teeth. After all, your dentist is in the business of perfecting your smile.
Disclaimer:
The above information is provided for informational purposes only. Colgate does not accept any liability should the above recommendations have an outcome contrary to the intended result. Always seek the advice of a qualified doctor or dental professional. Do not disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read in this article.
