I’m really worried something is seriously wrong with my teeth. I had porcelain veneers placed about six years ago. I moved shortly after that. Two of the veneers fell off. A dentist placed them back for a small fee, that after a receiving a letter on an attorney’s letterhead my original dentist finally reimbursed me for. Now it looks like the teeth under the veneers are darker. So much so that the porcelain veneers are no longer white. Even my friends with natural teeth have a whiter color now. What do I do?

Mark

Dear Mark,

I’m afraid neither of your dentists have done you a great service. I’m sure it is obvious to you the first dentist wasn’t a skilled cosmetic dentist by the fact they would just fall off.

The problem you are facing is they weren’t bonded on correctly to begin with and things are getting underneath them, including bacteria. This can lead to serous decay.

It sounds like the second dentist didn’t have enough expertise to recognize the problem or to rebond them on. Truthfully, very few dentists know how to properly re-bond.

Re-Bonding Porcelain Veneers

One of the problems you will run into is very few dentists have the skill and equipment to do this properly. Using sand-blasting equipment, the old bonding material would first need to be completely cleaned off. After that, they’d have to etch the inside surface of the porcelain with hydrofluoric acid. The final step is to prime the porcelain veneer. Only then could it be bonded on again.

Now, if your porcelain veneers can be removed without them breaking, you can likely find an expert cosmetic dentist to do this properly.

Unfortunately, I’m worried the second dentist bonded them on strongly, without fixing the problem. This may mean they’ll break when the dentist tries to get them off.

If that happens, you will have to have them completely re-done. You may be able to get a refund as your porcelain veneers weren’t placed on properly and have put your teeth in danger.

Finding an Expert Cosmetic Dentist

To find a cosmetic dentist skilled enough to do either of these correctly, I recommend you go to the mynewsmile.com website. They have a link to help readers find a cosmetic dentist.

The biggest benefit to this website’s list is they prescreen every cosmetic dentist who wishes to be listed. They have to prove both their technical knowledge as well as their artistry to ensure that anyone they recommend has the expertise and artistic eye to give patients a stunning smile.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.