Ive had yellowish teeth since i was young due to antibiotic medicines i took
Q. Hi, I’m having yellowish teeth since i was young due to antibiotic medicines i took. I tried whitening toothpaste & treatment but seems can;t work. I’ve read about veneer treatment. is it the only option i have? how about laser treatment? what is the pros & cons?
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.
Dr Julian Caplan – Director on the board of the BACD
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Dr Caplan
Tags: dental veneers, discoloured tooth, discoloured teeth, teeth bleaching, teeth whitening, veneers, veneerswhite smile, white teeth
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 1:36 amand is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Teeth Whitening.
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