I have four teeth that have porcelain veneers on them. The adjacent teeth don’t match because I wanted white veneers. I wonder if there is a way to whiten the teeth next to my veneers without damaging them. Maybe something mild, like Crest Whitestrips?
Candace
Dear Candace,
You won’t have to worry about your porcelain veneers being damaged by whitening your teeth. It doesn’t matter whether you are using Crest Whitestrips or professional teeth whitening, the only thing which will be impacted is your natural tooth structure.
Most smiles are quite a bit wider than four teeth. Because of that, many dentists will recommend you get enough veneers to cover your entire smile. However, not everyone can afford that. In that case, your dentist should have suggested that you have your teeth whitened before getting your veneers placed. This would have made things much simpler for you. I am not sure why he or she neglected that, but that is water under the bridge at this point.
The problem you will face with the Whitestrips are three-fold: They only cover six teeth, they are quite weak, and they don’t stay on extremely well.
Coverage
Crest Whitestrips are designed to cover the front six of your teeth. If four of them are veneered, that means they will only reach two of the teeth you need to be whitened. It is possible you could cut the whitestrips in half, but that is a bit of a bother and it will take some of the gel with it.
Strength
While Crest Whitestrips do work, they are significantly weaker than what you would get with professional teeth whitening, by a large margin. This is for consumer protection. Because you are under the supervision of a medical professional when you do whitening through your dentist, they are allowed to use a more potent ingredient. The amount of boxes of Whitestrips you’d have to purchase to get the same level of whitening will end up not saving you much money at all.
Retention
With the Whitestrips, you just press them against your teeth. However, they aren’t sealed so your saliva will mix with the strips. This will not only weaken them further but will also make them slip and slide, making it harder for them to stay in place.
You’ll be much better off using a take-home tray from your dentist. It solves all three of these problems— it can cover all of your teeth. Your dentist can even make it where the gel won’t reach your veneers, though it won’t impact them if they do. As mentioned earlier, it is much stronger and because you are using custom-fitted trays, they are much more secure.
This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.