Dr. Hall:

Is it possible to bleach, or in some other way whiten, porcelain veneers once they have been applied?

Close to three months ago, I decided to get porcelain veneers on my top four front teeth. The dentist I went to selected the whitest shade on his chart and advised me that it was the whitest shade available for them—even though I thought the color looked a little less white than my other teeth (I have been bleaching my teeth for many years). When the they came in, I protested again that there was a noticeable color difference. He assured me that by using the whitest cement the veneers would match my teeth. Alas, this was not the result: there is at least an entire shade (if not more) of difference between my porcelain veneers and my other teeth. At the follow-up visit the next week, I was still very unhappy with the result. He told me that the only way to get them whiter would be to break off the porcelain veneers, possibly causing me permanent nerve damage, and to replace them with whiter porcelain veneers—which he wasn't even sure of how to obtain (although, he did admit to not having the chart for the highest whiteness level). Do I really have no other alternatives?

Any help that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I am turning 25 this month, and I spent a great deal of money on these porcelain veneers so that I wouldn't have to go through the rest of my life being self-conscious every time I smiled. Yet now, I am just a self-conscious as before but with no apparent options, and would like to whiten the porcelain veneers if possible.

—Stacy in Missouri

Stacy,

You can't whiten porcelain veneers once they're on your teeth.

Many dentists are not up-to-date on shade-matching of bleached teeth. There is no limit as to how white your porcelain veneers can be. What happened to you is so typical when people get porcelain veneers from dentists who are not experts in cosmetic dentistry. They are learning as they go, and you are the guinea pig. Often they do not have the materials required to do the job you need done.

The porcelain veneers can be re-done. He does not need to "break them off." He merely grinds them off. It's like starting over. The chances of damaging your teeth, if he does this right, are less with re-doing the porcelain veneers than it was with doing them in the first place. But it would be best to go to a dentist who is an expert in cosmetic dentistry rather than to be experimented on one more time.

Dr. Hall

Related information:

• Click here to read the other cosmetic dentistry mistakes.
• Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
• See photographs of beautiful work by porcelain veneer dentists.
• See additional pictures of porcelain veneers, featuring work done by mynewsmile.com network dentists
• Read blog entry about how to upgrade old porcelain veneers.