How Do I Whiten My Dental Bonding?

I have had dental bonding for a bit over six months. It is already picking up stains. What is the best whitening gel for dental bonding?

Caroline

Dear Caroline,

By whitening gel, I am assuming you mean a teeth whitening brand. Unfortunately, even professional teeth whitening will only work on natural tooth structure. It does not help with any type of dental work, including dental bonding. A lot of what you do from here will depend on why your dental bonding has started picking up stains.

If the glaze on your bonding is still intact, just using Supersmile Toothpaste will help remove any surface stains. Unlike other whitening toothpaste, which use damaging abrasives to whiten your teeth, Supersmile uses an enzyme that dissolves the protein pellicle layer. The stains are removed with the pellicle. It is something I recommend for every patient I know that has dental work. It will help keep the work shining.

If the glaze has been damaged on your dental bonding that is another story altogether. Your bonding work will have to be re-done. One thing that has me curious though is the timing. You mentioned it has only been a little over six months. If you’ve recently had a dental cleaning, that could be what has damaged your dental bonding. It is possible your hygienist used something like a power prophy jet during your cleaning or even gave you some acidulated fluoride. The fluoride will put etches in the bonding that would cause it to pick up stains. The prophy jet will remove the glazing altogether, leaving your bonding completely vulnerable.

The only good news about this is it will mean the damage is the fault of your dental office and they should carry the responsibility for replacing it.

This blog is brought to you by Naperville Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Newkirk.