Does teeth whitening work on veneers & crowns?

[Gena]

Hi

I would like to have teeth whitening to whiten my teeth that have over the years become more yellow and picked up a lot of stain.

I have four veneers and two crowns on my front teeth and would like to know if teeth whitening works on veneers and crowns to make them whiter?

I have read somewhere that it never works on crowns and veneers and I would need to replace them if I whiten the rest of my teeth. If I have to do that, should I do that before or after teeth whitening?

[Dr Ehsan J. Esfahani]

Hello Gena,

Thank you for your post.

The simple answer is no. Teeth whitening cannot whiten any dental work. The only thing it may do is remove discoloration from any stains the crown/veneer/filling has acquired over time. This can more easily be achieved with a polish and bleaching is not attempted.

The professional bleaching processes will not make a colour change on the veneers and crowns you have already had done. This includes restorations such as white fillings, bonding and bridges.

In most cases, a person's teeth should be whitened first and then afterwards their dental work done to match the new shade of their teeth. If the natural teeth have darkened more than a crown/veneer, teeth whitening can be used to lighten the neighbouring natural teeth back to a shade which more closely matches the crowns and veneers. The color match obtained by the whitening process is not always exact, but it can be a significant improvement.

Patients that have much dental work should consider the cost of replacing these before starting teeth whitening. At Pearl we can offer you free smile makeover consultation. For cases with 4 or more veneer/crown units home whitening is offered as free complimentary treatment.