Posted by writeradmin
I’ve had my porcelain veneers for about seven months. They were fine until then, but now they seem to be picking up my coffee stains. Is there a way to get them white again? I thought they’d last much longer than this?
Carla
Dear Carla,
The glaze on your porcelain veneers is very stain resistant. In fact, it is more stain resistant than even your natural teeth. The only thing that would cause them to really stain is if that glaze is damaged somehow. It’s possible you could have used something like an over-the -counter whitening toothpaste. Sometimes patients do that because they love their new smile so much and want to keep it nice and bright. Unfortunately, they do not realize that those toothpastes use abrasives as their means of “whitening” your teeth. This is why cosmetic dentists should always teach their patients the best way to take care of their veneers after they get them.
However, the timing of your damage has me suspicious that maybe your dental hygienist did something to damage your porcelain veneers. If he or she used something like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride, it would severely damage the glazing. In fact, the prophy jet would take it clean off! Without that glaze to protect it, your porcelain veneers will quickly pick up stains.
Teeth whitening will only whiten natural tooth structure. If your dental office damaged them, then they should replace them. If you damaged them, you have a couple of choices. First, you could go to an expert cosmetic dentist and have them polish up the veneers. While it will not give you back your glaze, it will remove the stains. They’ll still be susceptible to staining so you’ll have to be careful. Alternatively, you could replace the veneers yourself as well.
When caring for your porcelain veneers, I recommend Supersmile Whitening Toothpaste. This brand is specifically designed to work with cosmetic dental work and will not do any damage to the veneers.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.