I had a fever when I was younger that left me with embarrassing brown spots on my teeth. My dentist decided to try teeth whitening to help it. We tried every over the counter whitening in the store, none of which worked. I’m wondering if I should go to someplace that offers Zoom Whitening. Would that work any better?
Stacey
Dear Stacey,
I think your dentist means well but does not understand cosmetic dentistry. I’m sure she is an excellent general dentist, however, you are going to have to go somewhere else to get the right treatment.
Unfortunately, teeth whitening will not be the solution. Even the most powerful professional teeth whitening will not help. The reason for this is that while it will whiten your teeth, it will do so evenly. That means the non-spotted portions of your teeth whiten as well, actually making the brown spots more obvious. This is a basic tenant of teeth whitening.
There are two good ways to deal with these brown spots: dental bonding and porcelain veneers. It is important that you don’t have your general dentist do this. Teeth whitening is the easiest of the cosmetic procedures and he or she had a fundamental misunderstanding of how that worked. The two procedures I’m suggesting as possibilities are both very advanced. You would need a dentist who has invested in significant post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry to do either one of these well.
Which you get depends on your goals and how big the spots are. If the only thing that bothers you about the appearance of your teeth is the spots and they are small, dental bonding is a sufficient solution. This will require some mild abrasives on the spots and then your dentist will bond some composite on top of the spots to blend that portion of your teeth in completely naturally with the remainder of your tooth structure. This is less expensive but doesn’t last as long, which means it will have to be redone every few years.
If the spots are bigger or there are other things about your smile you want to change, then porcelain veneers are the way to go. These are what the celebrities use to get those Hollywood smiles. They can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth. These use tiny wafers of porcelain that cover the entire front of your teeth. When well cared for can last many years.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.