I had dental bonding done about seven years ago. Since then I’ve been whitening my teeth, the dental bonding isn’t whitening, but that isn’t why I am writing. Recently, I’ve started having pain for about 30 seconds right where the bonding connects to the chipped teeth. Do you think the teeth whitening is damaging the bond?
Fanny
Dear Fanny,
You didn’t mention whether or not you are under the supervision of a dentist during your teeth whitening or if you are doing an over-the-counter teeth whitening. There are a couple of ways in which the method you chose won’t matter.
First, neither form of teeth whitening will weaken the bond. Second, neither method will whiten your dental bonding. Even professional teeth whitening will only whiten natural tooth structure. The only way to whiten your dental bonding would be to re-do it.
Here’s where their differences in the methods lie. The strength of over the counter teeth whitening is only a fraction of what you get through a dentist. You have to do countless kits to get the same value in teeth whitening. The second difference is the care you get.
A dentist would be monitoring any complications which would come up during the process, including pain and gum issues.
The pain you are experiencing is likely because of a sensitive spot on that tooth where the bonding agent has worn down. With the age of your bonding, that doesn’t surprise me.
Here’s what I recommend. See your dentist and let him or her know what is going on. There is a way they can cover the sensitive part while your teeth whitening is going on. That should cover the pain.
Then, you can continue the whitening until you get to the level of brightness you want. From there, you can get your dental bonding replaced to match the newer color.
This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.