One of the most common complaints people have about their smiles is discolored teeth. This is to some extent a natural consequence of aging, but it can make us look and feel unhealthy as well as older than we want.
Dental veneers are a great way to whiten teeth, but they shouldn’t be your first choice for whitening. So when should you choose veneers for whitening your teeth? Here is a quick guide to situations where veneers are the right choice to brighten your smile.
Your Teeth Don’t Respond to Whitening
Teeth whitening should be the first way you attempt to brighten your smile. You can start with over-the-counter (OTC) whiteners, but if that doesn’t work, try professional whitening. Professional whiteners are stronger than OTC versions, and the help of a trained professional helps ensure successful results.
At Firouzian Dentistry, we offer several types of teeth whitening, including third-generation Zoom! teeth whitening and KöR whitening. If your teeth are going to respond to whitening, we will be able to get results.
But we can often tell when your teeth are dark because of causes that won’t respond to whitening. We can tell you before you try whitening whether it will work or not. Teeth with eroded enamel, enamel defects, cavities, or dead pulp will not significantly whiten, and may best be treated with veneers or other approaches.
Your Teeth Don’t Get as White as You’d Like
Sometimes, your teeth do get whiter thanks to an approach like KöR whitening, but they don’t get as white as you’d like. Or maybe your teeth used to get white enough, but whitening has stopped working. This may be because your enamel is not as white as you want it to be.
Tooth enamel is produced by our body, and everyone’s is a little different in terms of its color and translucency. Plus the interior of our teeth also varies somewhat in color. The combination means that your teeth may be naturally darkers than the average. That’s a limit imposed by your enamel on how white your teeth can be.
However, if that’s not white enough for you, veneers do offer an alternative. Because veneers are ceramic that goes over your tooth enamel, they can be as white as you’d like. We also have to consider whether this would be too white and might make your smile look unnatural and unattractive.
You Have Other Cosmetic Problems You Want to Address
Teeth whitening is a procedure that does only one thing: remove stains from your teeth. Veneers, on the other hand, can do many things for your smile at the same time. They can brighten your smile, but also reshape your teeth, straighten your smile, close gaps between teeth, restore length to worn teeth, and more. If you have multiple concerns about the appearance of your smile, then veneers might be the best solution.
We might still recommend whitening first, especially if you don’t need or want veneers on all your teeth. That way, we can match your veneers to the brightest appearance of your natural teeth.
Looking for the Best Way to Brighten Teeth in Columbus?
This general information can help you get started in deciding what’s the best way to brighten your smile. However, we can’t know for sure what’s best for you until we actually evaluate your smile.
For a cosmetic evaluation of your smile and a recommendation about how best to whiten your teeth, please call (614) 848-5001 today for an appointment with Columbus, OH cosmetic dentist Dr. Mike Firouzian at Firouzian Dentistry.
