Dr. Hall
My son has brown fluoride stains on his front teeth. We have had a local dentist bleach his teeth but the stains are still evident. She recommends veneers but I wonder what the difference in cost is between bonding and veneers? Also can you recommend a cosmetic dentist in Amarillo, TX. Amarillo is the closest city to our small hometown.
Doreen in Texas
Doreen,
Don’t have the dentist who did the bleaching do the veneers or the bonding. She doesn’t sound like she knows what she is doing. It sounds like you have figured that out.
Teeth bleaching doesn’t work for splotched teeth. I shake my head every time I hear one of these stories, that another dentist doesn’t know how to do this.
Depending on the extent of the stains (these fluoride stains are called fluorosis), yes, direct dental bonding may be the best thing – this would cover up the stains. And thank you for asking for our recommendation. But even Amarillo is a problem. I just looked there again and can’t find anyone I would recommend.
And, as I check a map, I see that you are clear out in a remote rural area of the Texas panhandle. I know it’s going to be a 4-5 hour trip, but if you want this done right, I would really suggest you go to Oklahoma City. Very few dentists are going to know how to do this right, and they tend to gravitate to larger cities. In Texas, they go to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and other parts of east and central texas. I have looked in West Texas and only last month did I finally find someone in Lubbock that I would refer patients to. And we can’t yet find anyone in Amarillo.
Dental bonding is an art. It has to be done freehand, and they simply don’t teach it in dental school. And dentists have to be passionate about appearance-related dentistry to know how to do it well and to stock the materials on hand to be able to do it right.
I would recommend Dr. Michael Forth in Edmond, OK. That’s a northern suburb of Oklahoma City. He does beautiful work.
Good luck,
Dr. Hall
Read more about stained teeth.
About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
Thanks for the great information. I have had fluoride stains all my life and really don’t like the look of them. I just assumed that whitening would work and several years ago my dentist had no qualms about selling me the professional whitening gel and making me trays. If he knew it wasn’t going to work, why even recommend it? I definitely noticed that my teeth color would be very uneven when I would be done whitening. I finally decided it wasn’t worth it and I’ve just lived with the stains. I’m glad to find out another solution — bonding might be an option for me. I’ve switched dentists in the last year, so I think I will bring it up at my next visit.
Comment by Dr. Hall,
Becky,
Yes, while most teeth whitening is within the capability of your average family dentist, these stains are a different story. But I would caution you about asking your new dentist to do this unless he or she is an expert cosmetic dentist. Ask him or her to do your general dentistry, but I would check with someone on our recommended list to fix these stains. It shouldn’t be that expensive if the stains are limited in scope.