A. Tetracycline staining is all the way through the tooth.  Long term bleaching can substantially improve things.  Bleaching can be a combination of home bleaching and “laser” bleaching.  In my practice we only carry out home tray bleaching with a surgery visit of slightly stronger bleach placed in the tray – I have my doubts as to whether laser bleaching is really effective.

However veneers will provide you with a good end result immediately.  The down side for veneers is that a surface layer of tooth needs to be removed ( 0.5 to 0.7 mm especially if the staining is dark) . If the teeth are in good alignment there usually are minimal problems with this technique – years down the line you will need them replaced with more veneers.  If the teeth are in poor alignment there is a chance that root treatment may be required if the neves of the teeth are damaged.  In this instance I would advise some form of brace work prior to veneers to minimise the damage done to the teeth.

I have treated many people this way very successfully but the important thing is that you realise that once your teeth are veneered there is no going back.