Can You Whiten Porcelain Veneers?
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

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