Question:

I have 2 porcelain veneers on my front teeth. These were put on about a year ago. Recently I have noticed an awful smell coming from between them. No amount of rinsing/brushing/flossing will make it go away. Any suggestions?

—Jan in Georgia

Dear Jan,

An awful smell between your veneers--that doesn't sound too good! I'm assuming this isn't a case of bad breath.

This seems like a case of porcelain veneers placed by a general dentist and not an expert cosmetic dentist.

My guess is that there's either an edge of a veneer under the gumline or an open margin that is catching bacteria. I'd try swishing with 3% hydrogen peroxide for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. Don't use the hydrogen peroxide for longer than two weeks (no more than 14 days), because besides killing smelly bacteria, it also kills some of the bacteria that keep your yeast populations down in your mouth.

Then I'd recommend getting an opinion from one of the excellent cosmetic dentists we have listed in the Atlanta area. I'm confident that they are all expert enough with porcelain veneers to diagnose and treat your problem. We screen these cosmetic dentists very carefully. If you have an open margin and you let that go, it could ruin one of the veneers, and you wouldn't want that. If there is a veneer edge hidden under the gum, that could contribute to gum disease which doesn't seem any better. But you definitely want a cosmetic dentistry expert to look at that.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Hall

For referral to an expert cosmetic dentist who does porcelain veneers correctly, click here.

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