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There is a right way to polish a porcelain veneer

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Dear Dr. Hall,
I saw a little divot or scratch in my porcelain veneer. I went to my cosmetic dentist and he said he could buff it out. He did, but now I notice that somehow the glaze in that area is gone (it looks matte). He did not use a proxy-jet he used something called cups and then a thin polishing mechanism. My worry is, will that area now stain, do I have to replace the veneer, is this somewhat common?. It still feels smooth in my mouth but when I dry the tooth and look in a magnified mirror, I see it. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
Amy from New York

Amy,
You are saying that your dentist is a “cosmetic dentist.” Even though I can’t confirm that he fits my definition of a cosmetic dentist, we can just go with that.

Yes, with a matte finish, the porcelain will be more susceptible to stain. There is a way to polish a porcelain veneer and give it a luster very close to the original glaze. It doesn’t require specialized skill the way doing a smile makeover does, but it does require a knowledge of the process and some specialized materials. Polishing porcelain requires the use of diamond polishing instruments and polishing paste, ending with an ultra-fine diamond polishing paste.

If this is the dentist who did your veneers and you’re happy with his work, I would go back to him and tell him you’d like a little higher shine and, if you need to, you can tell him I suggested using Brasseler’s Dialite porcelain polishing system to get back that glossy shine. That’s what I used for situations like this.
– Dr. Hall

Read more in this blog about porcelain veneers losing their shine.

Do you have a comment or a question or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below.

Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question of your own.

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.

Response from Aaron from Indiana – polishing veneers and Supersmile toothpaste

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This is a final follow-up to a correspondence with Aaron from Indiana.
See his original question about a smile makeover that had lost its shine and the follow-up: “Do porcelain veneers lose their shine that quickly?”

Greetings Dr. Hall,

I went to my cosmetic dentist and had another e.max crown placed and was prepped for another one on my right lower side. The crown looks great and I am highly satisfied with my lower left molar restoration. I also had a polish and the luster on my cosmetics has been restored. I have been using Supersmile for 4 days. My teeth look so amazing and I love the Supersmile product. After using the toothpaste, I went ahead and ordered a tube of the accelerator. In conjunction with the at home Zoom treatments, I think the Supersmile products will get the shade on my lower teeth where I want it to be and with less sensitivity. The low abrasion factor and the calprox are big selling factors for me maintaining my new super smile.

– Aaron from Indiana

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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.

Do porcelain veneers lose their shine that quickly?

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A couple of days ago I posted a question from Aaron in Indiana. He had a smile makeover that he said had lost its shine. I invited him to give me more information, because ordinarily porcelain veneers will not lose their shine unless they are abused by a dental hygienist with a Prophy Jet power polisher, or a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride. Both of these will remove the glaze on porcelain veneers.

He responded by describing his treatment to me, and enclosed a photograph of the work the way it looks now. Yes, it was porcelain crowns and porcelain veneers. And he confessed to having obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Here is the photo:

aaron-smile-makeover-going-dull

 

Yes, I would say obsessive-compulsive here. These teeth still have their shine. The glaze is still there and they look fine.

Here’s what I told him:

 

To me it looks like a normal luster on the porcelain – the glaze is still there. There may be some polishing that could be done, but myself, I wouldn’t touch it. Nothing on porcelain is as good as the natural glaze. Porcelain polishes, because porcelain is so hard, have to be a diamond paste, and a polished porcelain surface to me is second best to the original glaze.
– Dr Hall

See Aaron’s reply. His dentist polished the veneers some, and he tried Supersmile toothpaste and loves it.

We thank our advertisers who help fund this site.

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.

After 2 months, my smile makeover is losing its luster. What is going wrong?

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Dr. Hall,
I just had a cosmetic total upper smile make over from a very credible cosmetic dentist. I am in love with the results and have been caring for my new smile better than I would my natural teeth. It was a HUGE investment, so one has to be particularly attentive. I am currently brushing with Crest 3D Glamorous white toothpaste, as it was the best toothpaste at the drug store and rinsing with Listerine whitening 6 in one with fluoride. I’ve noticed that the pearly luminescent white sheen is now significantly diminished in just over 2 months from the reconstruction. I read online that a mild baking soda paste could restore the sheen. That was tried with no success. Could my toothpaste be the problem and can the nice sheen be restored by my dentist? Will Supersmile toothpaste restore the sheen at home? And if not will it preserve the sheen if my dentist can restore the luster in office? I have an appointment with my cosmetic dentist next week and intend to ask her the same questions. Hopefully, you can reply so I am fully educated before my visit next week. I really enjoyed reading your website. Thank you for your time and consideration.
– Aaron in Indiana

Aaron,
There are two possible reasons for a loss in luster of a smile makeover within only two months. I don’t have enough information to tell you which of these is the case. If you can give me more information about exactly what was done, what material was used, and about the dentist who did them, I could tell you.

Porcelain itself is extremely hard, harder than tooth enamel, and it would take a pretty potent abrasive to dull its shine. Toothpaste alone wouldn’t do it. Power polishing equipment (such as the Prophy Jet) that is used by some dental hygienists will take away the glaze and cause the porcelain to go dull. Another thing a dental hygienist can do is to give you a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride. This form of fluoride has hydrofluoric acid in it, which will etch porcelain, dulling the surface and making it susceptible to stain.

The other cause of a loss in luster of a smile makeover would be that the makeover is not porcelain but composite. Composite isn’t nearly as hard as porcelain and is softer than tooth structure. A number of things can dull the shine of composite, including a toothpaste that is too abrasive, or ordinary polishing pumice used by most dental hygienists. Besides that, your mouthwash, the Listerine Whitening 6 in 1 with Fluoride, has alcohol in it. Alcohol will soften the composite so that it is even more susceptible to scratching and staining. I’d skip the mouthwash – most mouthwashes have alcohol in them.

I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Hall

(See the follow-up post: Do porcelain veneers lose their shine that quickly? Aaron tells what was done and sends a photo of the work.)

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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.

21-year-old porcelain veneers are turning dark.

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Dr. Hall,
I got porcelain veneers in my two front teeth like 21 years ago because of white calcium deposits on my teeth, but it seems like my teeth are getting darker and darker……it is very apparent in pictures. It really bothers me. What are my options?

Thank you,
Shayna from Georgia

Shayna,
I wouldn’t know for sure what the problem is with your porcelain veneers and your two front teeth without seeing them, but maybe I can be helpful.

Porcelain is very hard and stain resistant. It is actually more stain resistant than enamel, as long as its glaze is intact. But enamel has a certain capacity for self-repair by drawing minerals from your saliva. Porcelain doesn’t do that. This leads me to wonder if the glazed surface of the porcelain has been damaged.

The easiest way to damage them like this is for a dental hygienist to use power polishing equipment such as a Prophy Jet on them – that will destroy the glaze in one short appointment. They’ll look bright and clean when you’re through with your appointment, but within a couple of weeks afterward they’ll begin to attract stain and start to become darker. Or the glaze could be damaged with acidulated fluoride treatments or other means.

If they are darkening because the surface has been damaged, it may be possible to restore the beauty of your smile with sophisticated polishing techniques using diamond grit polishers. I would advise contacting one of our Georgia cosmetic dentists and getting an opinion about it. This is beyond the ability of a family dentist.

The other possibility is that your teeth are darkening under the veneers and the darker color is showing through.

Dr. Hall

Related links:
Read our page: How long do porcelain veneers last?
Read basic information about post-operative care of porcelain veneers.

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.

My new porcelain veneers have lost their shine

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Dr. Hall,
I recently had 6 porcelain veneers placed and was unhappy with the bulkiness from two of the veneers and my dentist reshaped the veneers by filing down the veneers and when he did it changed the color from a pearl/grayish white to a whiter lighter color, which I like however, now the veneers are dull, no shine. Is there anything that can be done to add shine. And will my veneers now stain? I thought that veneers where the same color all throughout and was surprised the color changed with the filing/reshaping.

Help!
Candace in Ohio

Dear Candace,
Your question is a great springboard for making the point about the unforeseen difficulties that can occur when you don’t have an expert cosmetic dentist doing your smile. When dentists aren’t passionate about the appearance of the work (and well over 90% of them aren’t), they don’t take the trouble to learn all of these important details.

This dentist bonded on porcelain veneers that were too bulky, and you didn’t like the color. A true dentist/artist will make sure, before they are bonded, that they are beautiful in your eyes, and this won’t even come up. I hear this all the time in my e-mails. The patient got home, studied his or her smile in the mirror, and wasn’t happy. This is because dentists are trained that they know best, and it’s not in their nature to let the patient be in charge of whether or not they like how their smile looks. This mistake doesn’t happen with a true cosmetic dentist.

So you came back and told him the front two were too bulky. Now I’m not absolutely sure of this next point, but it seems to be true from what you’re telling me, that this dentist was then on unfamiliar ground. He ground the color off, which may have surprised him, too. And now he doesn’t know how to bring back the gloss. And yes, with the glaze gone on the porcelain veneers, they will pick up stain quite readily.

The dentist can bring back the shine with meticulous polishing techniques using diamond-impregnated ultrafine polishing wheels or pastes, with which he is probably unfamiliar. But even if he does that, you’ve still got two problems that I think are serious. 1) The color of these two adjusted veneers (you didn’t say if he ground down just these two or all of them–I’m guessing he just did the two) is probably flat now. I doubt that they have the natural color gradient that teeth are supposed to have. 2) You don’t like the color of the other four veneers, and they now don’t match these two.

I would recommend a second opinion from a true artist/dentist on our list of Ohio cosmetic dentists. And I think you should get a complete re-do of this case until you are truly thrilled with how they look, because you paid for a beautiful smile and you didn’t get it. But you will maybe be satisfied with just getting these polished.

Dr. Hall

Related information:
MAC Veneers are one brand of porcelain veneers that have the color on the surface
Find an expert cosmetic dentist
Click here for a list of Ohio cosmetic dentists.

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.

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