Everyone wants to have a pearl-white smile. Luckily, there are a few options available. Whitening treatments can brighten your smile with just a few applications. But if you’ve received Cosmetic Teeth Bonding, your bonded teeth may not whiten properly. Why? Let’s find out!
What is tooth bonding?
Dental tooth bonding is a cosmetic procedure to improve your teeth’ appearance. In this treatment, the tooth-colored resin is prepared and applied directly to your teeth. The resin is a dough-like nonporous material that can be molded in the desired shape, which then hardens using a special blue light. Teeth bonding is used for teeth that have been decayed, chipped, or discolored. It is also a common way to treat roots that have receded as a result of gum disease.
What is teeth whitening?
Teeth whitening is the process of removing stains and lightening the shade of your teeth. The process is desirable when teeth turn yellowed. This treatment uses whitening agents, which penetrate the enamel (outer layer of the tooth) and oxidize discolored molecules. The oxygen molecules break down the residues -- from tobacco, food, and drink -- into water and carbon dioxide without affecting teeth enamel, giving you a brighter and whiter smile as a result.
Why does bonding material stain but not whiten?
Teeth whitening procedures provide an effective way to remove staining. Trying to whiten bonded teeth, however, is a different story.
The color of the bonding material is designed to match your natural tooth shade. Since your natural tooth is porous, it’s easy for staining agents as well as whitening agents to penetrate the surface of your teeth. But this isn’t the case with nonporous bonding resin.
Therefore, because of the nonporous nature of resin, whitening agents can’t penetrate and whiten them. While this material can stain over time, it will stain at a slower rate than your natural teeth because it lacks the pores present in your natural tooth.
If you choose to get teeth whitening after cosmetic tooth bonding, your natural teeth will become lighter in color while the bonding material will stay the same shade. This often makes the bonded tooth look stained due to the difference in color between the bonding tooth and its neighboring newly whitened teeth.
When and How to whiten bonded teeth?
The best time to whiten your teeth is before you have a cosmetic bonding procedure. That way, your teeth will be at their whitest when your dentist color-matches the bonding material. However, if you’ve already undergone a bonding procedure and now wish to whiten your teeth, you have two choices available.
· You can get a porcelain veneer that matches your new tooth color.
· You can replace the stained resin with bonding resin. This might be a good option if your bonded tooth is more than 10 years old.
Talk to your dental professionals to learn more about your options. You can also check “How long does dental bonding last on front teeth?”
Vintage Smile Family Dentistry
(281) 251-7770