I had dental bonding done a few weeks ago to close a tooth gap. It started staining, which makes the gap repair look really ugly next to my natural color. I think it is because I drink coffee. However, my dentist did not tell me to stay away from any food or beverages. I read that Supersmile Toothpaste can take surface stains off of dental work, such as the bonding I have. What I am wanting to know is whether using this tooth paste will always remove the coffee stains or if I need to give up drinking it?
Dana
Dear Dana,
While it is true that dental bonding is more vulnerable to staining than your natural teeth or porcelain veneers, it should not be staining in just a few weeks. My guess is that you had this bonding done with your general family dentist rather than someone with more post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry. This is not a recognized specialty so it is up to the dentist how much, if any, post-doctoral training they invest in to gain some expertise.
Dental bonding is made from composite, which is a blend of plastic resin and inorganic fillers. There are differences in bonding and how vulnerable it is to staining based on the types of fillers used.
Hybrid composites are stronger but cannot be polished to the shine that you want because of the size of the particles. Microfills can be polished to a high luster but are not nearly as strong. Most general dentists just keep the general purpose hybrids, which serves them well for the type of procedures that they normally do.
If you were to go with an expert cosmetic dentist they would combine the two. They’d start with the hybrid on the interior for the strength and then add the microfills for the high luster. this gives you the best of both worlds.
I suggest you go back to your dentist and share what you’ve learned here. Hopefully, he’ll be willing to redo the dental bonding so that it will hold up better cosmetically for you. If your dentist can’t do that, then you can go to another dentist to get it done. If you have the funds, getting two porcelain veneers would last much longer than the bonding, which will have to be replaced every few years. Plus, they are even more stain resistant than your natural teeth.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.