Can you whiten veneers?

Can you whiten veneers?

You get veneers to cover cracked or broken teeth, whiten your stained teeth and improve the overall appearance of your smile. But what happens now that your veneers have become discoloured?

Porcelain and composite veneers don’t respond well to at-home teeth whitening treatments, so let’s look at your options to whiten your veneers and get your stunning smile back, as well as some tips to maintain your veneers for a longer-lasting white smile.

How long do veneers last?

Veneers are considered a permanent fix for broken or badly stained teeth, but that doesn’t mean they last forever. Porcelain veneers are the most popular option as they last the longest, at around 10 to 15 years when cared for properly, while composite veneers generally last from 5 to 7 years before needing to be replaced.

Porcelain veneers last longer because they are done by shaving down your tooth enamel, ready for a porcelain cap to be fitted over the top. This cap effectively works as a new tooth, protecting the sensitive natural tooth and dental pulp beneath. The procedure is not painful, but you may have a local anaesthetic if you require it.

Composite veneers are made through a process known as composite bonding, or dental bonding, where a composite resin is painted onto your teeth to fix cracks and cover stains. Composite veneers are also the cheaper option for veneers for this reason.

Both porcelain and composite veneers act as a cover for your natural teeth, so they don’t stain as easily as your natural tooth enamel. However, it’s natural for both your teeth and your veneers to stain over time, so the best way to keep them whiter for longer is by properly maintaining them.

How to maintain your veneers

The best way to maintain your veneers is by treating them like your real teeth and keeping them clean in the same way. Just because your veneers are essentially new teeth, doesn’t mean you can start smoking, drinking fizzy drinks and eating food containing tannins and chromogens with no consequences.

Diet

The first step to maintaining white veneers is to be careful about what you eat and drink. Tannins and chromogens are substances in food and drink that contain strong colour pigments and so can easily stain your teeth. Great advice to follow if you’re not sure if your meal will stain your teeth is: if it will stain a white shirt, it will stain your teeth.

Such food and drink to cut down on include:

• Tea.
• Coffee.
• Red wine.
• Tomato-based sauces.
• Curries.
• Soy sauce.

You should also cut down on sugary food and drink, as there are still bacteria living in your mouth that feed on sugars, which can cause damage to your veneers as well as your natural teeth. If you do drink fizzy drinks from time to time, use a straw to drink them so the liquid bypasses your teeth rather than coating them and reaching into the gaps, as it would if you drink them normally.

Oral hygiene

Perhaps the reason you got veneers was to cover your stained teeth, as you weren’t staying on top of your dental hygiene. Well, you may now have a whiter smile, but your oral hygiene habits need to improve.

For white veneers, you should brush your teeth twice a day – once as soon as you wake up, and once again before bed. You should also floss and rinse your mouth with mouthwash daily. This helps to kill the harmful bacteria in your mouth, which causes plaque buildup and makes your veneers turn yellow and even brown.

Part of your oral hygiene routine should also be visiting a dental hygienist once every six months. Hygienists can check your overall oral health as well as scrape off any plaque and maintain the appearance of your veneers, which helps keep them whiter for longer.

Lifestyle

One of the biggest causes of stained teeth and veneers is tobacco. The tar in cigarettes sticks to your teeth as you inhale, causing the enamel and your new porcelain covers to become yellow. Tobacco also causes a number of serious health conditions, including cancers of the mouth, throat, stomach, bladder and lungs, so it’s in the interests of your general health to stop smoking. The NHS has some helpful advice on how to quit smoking if you’re struggling.

Although it won’t directly lead to staining your veneers, you should avoid using your teeth as tools, for example, to cut sellotape or open bottles with caps. This has a very high chance of chipping or breaking your veneers and your teeth, which can open up gaps for your teeth beneath to become stained or damaged. This will require you to have your veneers replaced as soon as possible.

Can you whiten veneers?

If you’re already maintaining your veneers in the best way possible, with a healthy diet, good oral hygiene and no smoking, you may be considering whitening your veneers. However, veneers, both porcelain and composite, do not react well with the components of at-home teeth-whitening kits, so you should not use teeth-whitening products on your veneers.

Veneers can be expensive, especially if you’ve splashed out on a full set of veneers or also had dental implants due to missing teeth, so it’s understandable if you’re not willing to have them replaced if you haven’t yet had them for at least ten years. However, if you try to whiten your veneers yourself with ingredients like hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil or baking soda, there’s a higher chance you’ll damage your veneers or the treatment will have no effect at all.

If you have some veneers and some natural teeth, the teeth-whitening treatments you can buy off the counter for use at home, or even those you can receive in a dental practice, will likely work to whiten your natural teeth but have no effect on your veneers. This will leave your teeth with an imbalanced and unattractive appearance, as some teeth will be different colours from the others.

When your veneers turn a colour that’s displeasing to you, you should visit your dentist to talk about your options. If the staining is mild, they will be able to clean them in the dental practice to return them to your chosen colour. However, if the colour of the veneers has turned dark brown or grey, it’s likely that you’ll need to replace your veneers.

Whatever the case, speak to a dentist to find out the best solution for your veneers.

About Eye and Dental Clinic

The Eye and Dental Clinic in Bury, Lancashire, is open from 09.00 to 17.30 Monday to Friday, with some appointments available with reservation at weekends. If you need a routine appointment, cosmetic dental care or emergency dental care, give us a ring or book your appointment online.

Emergency dental treatment

It’s important to know what to do if you or a loved one has a dental emergency before it takes place. Most dental emergencies are best dealt with by a dentist; however, if you have experienced an injury to your mouth that has resulted in severe blood loss, swelling of the neck or difficulty swallowing or breathing, you should visit A&E as soon as possible.

If you have lost or broken a tooth or experienced any other dental emergency that doesn’t require urgent treatment by an urgent medical treatment centre, you can call your dental practice to make an emergency appointment during operating hours or listen to the dental practice’s voicemail to learn about the nearest out-of-hours dentist to you. If you can’t find an out-of-hours emergency dentist, call NHS 111 to find out where you can go.

Practice policies

We have several practice policies to ensure our patients receive the best care, and our schedule is fully booked, so everyone can access the dental care they need.

Follow the links to read our:

• Cancellations and missed appointments policy.
• Other policies, including the complaints procedure.

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