Can You Whiten Bonded Teeth?

Cosmetic Dentist Serving Lakewood, Denver, Golden & Nearby Colorado

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Dental bonding is a versatile restoration that can address a variety of functional and aesthetic problems with your teeth. If you’re looking to maintain a bright smile, it’s important to understand that the resin material used with dental bonding will stain over time, but it doesn’t respond to whitening treatments. Therefore, whitening your teeth will create a situation where your natural teeth become a different shade than the bonding material.

Fortunately, there are certain things you can do to help avoid these issues and maintain a bright, beautiful smile.

Why Does Bonding Material Stain, but not Whiten?

Your natural tooth enamel is porous. As a result, staining agents are easily able to penetrate the surface layer of your teeth, creating a discolored appearance. The porous nature of tooth enamel also allows the bleaching agents in teeth whitening systems to penetrate into the deeper layers of your teeth for a bright, dazzling smile. Unfortunately, tooth bonding material behaves differently than your natural tooth enamel.

The composite resin used for dental bonding is nonporous. While this material can stain over time, it will stain at a slower rate than your natural teeth because it lacks the pores that are present in enamel. In addition, the nonporous nature of bonding material prevents the bleaching agents found in teeth whitening treatments from impacting the color of your restoration. As a result, if your bonding restoration becomes stained, you most likely will have a difficult time restoring a bright appearance with teeth whitening.

If you choose to get teeth whitening after dental bonding, your natural teeth will become very bright while the bonding material will stay the same shade. This will make the bonded portion of your tooth look stained due to the difference in color between the bonding material and your newly whitened teeth.

Whiten Your Teeth Before Getting Dental Bonding

Dr. Greenhalgh will match the color of the bonding material to the shade of your natural teeth so that it blends in with your smile. If you’d like a brighter smile, the best approach is to undergo a tooth whitening treatment prior to your dental bonding procedure. This will allow Dr. Greenhalgh to achieve your desired level of brightness and then match the bonding material to your whitened smile.

If your teeth become discolored again over time and you’d like another whitening treatment, Dr. Greenhalgh can easily replace your bonding restoration so that it will still blend in seamlessly with your smile. This touch-up procedure is straightforward and won’t impact the effectiveness of your dental bonding restoration.

Tips for Keeping Your Smile Bright after Dental Bonding

There are certain steps you can take after getting dental bonding to help maintain a bright, beautiful smile for a long time:

  • Stay on top of your oral hygiene – brush twice a day and floss once a day
  • Visit our office twice a year for regular dental cleanings
  • Avoid the consumption of staining foods and beverages such as coffee, tea, colas, red wine, tomato sauce, berries or curries
  • Use a straw when drinking beverages that may stain your teeth to minimize the contact these liquids have with your teeth
  • Quit smoking

Contact our Lakewood Cosmetic Dentist

Please contact Dr. Scott Greenhalgh using the form on this page or call 303-988-9060 today to schedule an appointment. We serve patients in Lakewood, Denver and the surrounding areas of Colorado.