Dentistry: It's More Than Drilling and Filling

Composite bonding doesn't respond to whitening in the same way that enamel does. Once a dentist has applied the resin to a tooth and hardened it with light, the bonding becomes non-porous. Your natural teeth, on the other hand, are full of pores. This allows the whitening bleach to penetrate into the deeper layers of a tooth during the whitening procedure. But the porous nature of enamel and the non-porous nature of bonding means that you can't whiten your natural teeth and bonded teeth at the same time. If you do whiten your teeth while you have composite bonding, your natural teeth and composite teeth won't match, color-wise. The best way to approach whitening with composite bonding is to do the two procedures separately.

Whiten Your Teeth First

It doesn't matter if your composite bonding is stained or not. Always whiten your teeth before you replace the composite bonding. Because dentists have the ability to create a resin paste of a shade that matches your natural teeth, they can match bonding to your newly whitened teeth with the use of dental teeth whitening. This ensures that your smile is an even shade of white in all areas.  

Replace Your Bonding After Whitening

To re-bond your teeth after whitening, your dentist will remove the old bonding. Fortunately, this procedure shouldn't affect your natural tooth structure. Your dentist will remove the old bonding, then create a new composite resin that matches the shade of your newly whitened teeth. Then they simply replace the old bonding. Although you can have both treatments done together, with whitening first, followed by removal and replacement of your composite bonding, you may have better results if you wait.

Wait Two Weeks for Best Results

Your teeth are filled with dentinal tubes. These tubes contain water and nutrients that keep your teeth nourished. During the whitening procedure, the heat and dental bleach dehydrate your teeth, depleting some of the water contained in them. This will leave your teeth sensitive. And until your teeth have fully rehydrated, they will appear very white. This is due to increased light penetration. As a result, consider waiting two weeks before you re-bond your teeth. After about two weeks, your teeth will be fully hydrated and won't be quite as white as they were immediately after whitening. You can then guarantee that your new bonding matches your newly whitened teeth.

If you have bonded teeth but want to whiten your teeth in the near future, be sure to follow this advice before you proceed for best results.