Should I Get Teeth Whitening or Veneers?
Your teeth chew through a lot of material over the years, and some foods and drinks can leave their mark on your enamel. Frequently consuming beverages like coffee, tea, red wine, and sports drinks and snacks like berries and colorful candies can cause teeth to develop unsightly discoloration, and tobacco use can result in nasty buildups and yellow stains. Luckily, cosmetic dental treatments can brighten your smile despite these issues. Here’s an overview of teeth whitening and veneers to help you determine which is best for you.
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
While you can find many purported teeth whitening products at stores and pharmacies, they don’t typically deliver strong or long-lasting results, and some of them can cause injury due to user error or shoddy construction. Professional teeth whitening treatments from your dentist, on the other hand, can leave your teeth up to ten shades whiter, and its results can last for up to three years with excellent care. These treatments come in two varieties:
- An in-office procedure can be completed in about an hour. Your dentist will place barriers in your mouth to protect your soft tissues before treating your teeth with a few coats of a powerful whitening agent.
- Take-home kits include a tube of professional-grade whitening gel and a set of dental trays customized to fit your teeth. You’ll only need to place some of the gel into your trays and wear them for about an hour daily for two weeks.
What Are Veneers?
Veneers are thin shells made of porcelain or ceramic that are designed to fit over troubled teeth, covering up flaws like chips, cracks, gaps, and stains, and they can be placed in as few as two appointments that are made painless by local anesthetics. They require a tiny amount of enamel to be removed from your teeth before being cemented in place, and they can last for fifteen years or more before needing replacement if they receive excellent care.
If stains and discoloration are your only concerns, teeth whitening is probably the best option for you. However, if your stains do not respond to teeth whitening or if you have more flaws that you’d like to address, veneers may be the more suitable method. Consulting with your dentist can determine if you are a good candidate for either treatment.
About the Practice
Pelican Landing Dental offers personalized high-quality dental services to the good people of Bonita Springs, FL. Led by an experienced team of skilled dentists, the staff treats each patient with individualized care to help them achieve their ideal smile. Areas of expertise include preventive, restorative, emergency, and cosmetic dentistry such as veneers and teeth whitening. To schedule a cosmetic dental consultation, contact the office online or dial (239) 899-6707.