I have four porcelain veneers. They are still white, but the teeth next to them are yellowing. I want to whiten my teeth but I don’t want to damage my porcelain veneers. I am planning on using Crest Whitestrips. Will they work? If so, will they do any damage?
Catherine T.
Dear Catherine,
Teeth Bleaching Trays
Crest Whitestrips do work. They have some downsides but they do use a legitimate whitening ingredient. Whitening your teeth will not damage your porcelain veneers. However, I want you to get the best care possible so I want to go over some things to consider before you make your final decision.
First, the whitestrips are not nearly as strong was professional teeth whitening. The whitestrips will have about 6% strength. The professional whitening will be more like 33% strength. As you can see it would take quite a few boxes of whitestrips to give you the same amount of whitening you would get with a dentist.
A second issue would be that the whitestrips will only cover about six of your teeth. If you have four veneers, that means two of the teeth will be getting whitened. You can however, double the number of strips you use each time and put one on the left and another on the right of the porcelain veneers. That means you will need even more kits.
Third, the strips will be mingled with your saliva which weakens their effectiveness even further. Finally, you’ve got to deal with the fact that there is nothing to protect your gums from the peroxide gel used to whiten your teeth. This can cause some irritation.
I think you would be better off with professional whitening. You will have safety measures protecting your gums and the whitening will be much stronger, allowing you to whiten your teeth much faster. Your dentist can even fit them to only go over your natural teeth and leave your porcelain veneers untouched by the gel.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington Cosmetic Dentist Dr. J.E. Williams.