Baton Rouge Dentist

Archives for February 2016

Teeth Whitening and Dental Bonding

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I had a chipped tooth repaired with bonding several years ago. Can I whiten my teeth?

Nicole N. – Boston

Nicole,

You can whiten your teeth, but your dental bonding won’t whiten with them. It’s an unfortunate aspect of any type of cosmetic work. Only your natural teeth will respond to teeth whitening.

Then doesn’t mean you can’t do it. You’ll just have to have the dental bonding re-done.

To be honest, if you’ve had the bonding for several years, it’s likely time to have it re-done anyway. Just be sure to do the whitening first, then have your dentist match the bonding to the whitening.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.

Can’t afford to fix my chipped tooth

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I fell. I survived—my tooth didn’t. At least, it’s not the same anymore. It was chipped. I went in to see my dentist and he said there was an easy solution. He told me to get two porcelain veneers. He said two because he said it’s hard to match just one tooth. I was excited that I would not have this ugly chipped tooth anymore. Than I saw the price. My jaw almost fell open. Is there no more affordable treatment?

Micah B. – South Dakota

Micah,

Well, your dentist was right about one thing, but wrong about a couple others.

First, yes, it is hard to match just one porcelain veneer. So two would be easier. Actually, the standard is six. However, you don’t even need porcelain veneers.

If you just have a chipped tooth, the standard solution is dental bonding. This is a much more affordable procedure than porcelain veneers.

Your dentist is also ethically obligated to give you all your treatment options. I’m supcicious that he didn’t do this.  Unless there is something about your case I’m not aware of, it sounds like he was just trying to get you to do the most expensive solution.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.