Dr. Hall,
I had bonding applied to my teeth and now they are chipping and dulling? Medicines I had when an infant caused my teeth to be discolored and gray.I do not have money for veneers. Is there a new whitener that will help?
– Tami in Wisconsin
Dear Tami,
You have tetracycline stains. Tetracycline, if you take it before the age of about 12 when your permanent teeth are forming, will deposit in the dentin of your teeth and will show up as a dark brown or gray stain, sometimes in bands.
It’s risky to have these treated by a general dentist or a dentist who does some cosmetic dentistry. You really need a lot of training and experience to mask out these stains with porcelain veneers.
But, if you can’t afford veneers, and if you have existing dental bonding on the teeth, you have two reasonable choices, in my opinion:
- If the bonding was placed over your intact enamel, then I would have your dentist remove this bonding with sandpaper disks. In many states, this could be done by a dental hygienist, at probably a lower fee. Then I would have your dentist set you up with a home tooth whitening tray and the strongest home bleaching gel that you can tolerate without your teeth getting sensitive. Then I would bleach every night for a couple of months. Your teeth will lighten and look much better. Not as good as porcelain veneers, but definitely better.
Don’t try to do this with over-the-counter whitening products. They will be a waste of money because they are no where near strong enough for tetracycline stains. You need the strongest stuff money can buy.
And don’t do the laser tooth whitening or zoom whitening. Yes, these are more powerful, so they would be faster. But if money is an issue, these power bleaching techniques that are done in the dentist’s office get to be really expensive, especially with the number of appointments you will need. With the home trays, you can do the extended treatments on your own time, at just the expense of the refills. If your dentist charges too much for the refills, you can find them cheaper on EBay. - If the dentist who put the bonding on removed some enamel before putting it on, then I would bite the bullet and start saving for an expert cosmetic dentist to do eight or ten porcelain veneers. Meanwhile, I would have someone smooth out the bonding. Dental bonding, done well, is going to cost a lot of money, and will be several times more expensive over the long run than porcelain veneers because it begins to look crummy in one or two years, where porcelain veneers, which may cost anywhere from 10% more to twice as much initially, will last many years and look great for all that time.
Good luck,
Dr. Hall
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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.
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