I’ve recently turned 40 – yuk – and decided to do something about my smile. I have a crown on the tooth next to my upper canine which is now more yellow than white and two veneers on the bottom front centre teeth which “wrap” over the top of the teeth to make them slightly longer, similarly they are slightly discoloured. I have previously whitened my teeth which looked wonderful except for the crown and veneers! I have since then tried to “top up” the effect because I am a smoker and drink a lot of tea and over the years my teeth have lost the whiteness again.

I was told to re-do the home whitening and did so – this time I developed some white spots on two teeth, a recent visit to a different dentist revealed that the home system I was using is fairly ineffectual and old technology – I had to use it overnight and my teeth had become sensitized. I am now using the home system by Zoom called “Day White” at a 9.5% strength for an hour a day to try and restore the former whiteness.

My two top centre teeth have had composite work done to fill an existing gap when I was 20 and the mid-line is slightly off. I would like a brighter smile and whiter teeth and after much research believe that veneers are the best way to achieve this (obviously I also need to replace the existing crown). I’ve been interested to read about your “one-day” onsite smile makeover and although I can see the benefit in having an onsite technician who can exactly match the veneers to the patient, am interested to know whether veneers created in this way are as good, quality and durability wise, as the more usual veneers one has to wait a number of weeks for. I was recently told that German and American labs produce far better quality – is this true? L

A. Hi L,

many thanks for your enquiry, ok lets tackle each concern separately.

teeth whitening“>Teeth whitening is very dependent upon the concentration of the solution used and how long you have the solution on your teeth. Also new research suggests that the type of whitening trays have a part to play on how well the treatment works. So to summarise the longer you have the solution on your teeth everyday and the more often you use the whitening treatment ie 1 daily to twice daily you will see better and better result. So perseverance is the best advise. The best home treatment on the market is however a system which encompasses all these variables to produce a excellent result called enlighten. Also while this treatment is being done try to avoid smoking and drinking and eating foods of high colour.

Veneers are a very good option in correcting things like poor colour, shape, contour and midline correction of teeth. There are many types of veneers on the market and the basic things to understand are that some veneers are built up by adding porcelain firing it then adding some more and firing it until the final produce is produced (time consuming). The second way is a pressed veneer which is built up in wax first then the wax replica is made into porcelain by a pressing process(empress veneers) this produces a very consistent result and due to the core porcelain colours being limited can be reproduced much easier, then there is milled porcelain veneers (CEREC), which is ground from a single block of porcelain. All these veneers in the hands of the right technician can produce beautiful results and equally all these three types of veneers should last equally well.

There are good and bad technicians in all countries. I use a fantastic technician in the UK from a dental laboratory called ART, Gary Jenkinson, who produces work which is second to none, so it’s all a matter of having the right team and the technician being willing to learn.

Hope all this information is helpful

Dr Kailesh Solanki
Kissdental Manchester & London