I had porcelain veneers placed a year ago. I’m actually still paying them off and will be for a couple more years. They’ve started to stain around the edges, though, and that has me worried. I do smoke, but my dentist told me that porcelain veneers are pretty stain resistant. Are mine defective? Should I stop paying for them?
Laura
Dear Laura,
If you were able to send a picture of these it would help, but I can give you a couple of guesses as to what is going on. You mentioned the staining is just on the edges, so I will just talk about those possibilities. The first is that there is a gap between the edges of the porcelain veneers and your teeth. This is when the margins are exposed. If that was the case, then you would need to get them redone. It would need to be fixed because things will get caught in those gaps and it will lead to decay on your teeth.
A second option is that it is not the porcelain veneers themselves that are picking up the stains, but the bonding composite. While porcelain veneers are very stain resistant, more stain resistant than even your natural teeth, the composite bonding is not. The good news is there is a way to polish them back to their original shine.
Make sure you go back to your cosmetic dentist who placed your veneers to have this done. The procedure requires material and knowledge that your average family dentist will not have. Your dentist will use an ultra-fine aluminum oxide polishing paste and polish the area with ultra-fine polishing strips. I would consider this a regular part of the maintenance for your porcelain veneers.
I will also recommend you get Supersmile Toothpaste. It is specifically designed for the care of cosmetic dental work and will safely remove any surface stains without causing any damage to the surface of the veneers. I would not use any over the counter whitening toothpastes. These tend to have abrasives, which can cause damage to the surface of both your natural teeth and cosmetic work. Then, they will begin to pick up stains.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.