Veneers are high quality coverings that sit over your real teeth to give you a brilliantly radiant smile. Unfortunately, this radiance can diminish somewhat over time, as your veneers – like regular teeth – can start to turn yellow instead of white.
This may happen for a variety of reasons, but there are several ways to avoid this or to re-whiten your veneers. At Toorak Dental Studio, our highly trained dentists provide exceptional dental veneers in Melbourne service, giving you the best chance to regain your dazzling smile.
This article will outline the reasons why veneers turn yellow, as well as ways you can avoid this happening and simple lifestyle changes you can make to prolong the whiteness of your veneers.
Why veneers change colour
Veneers change colour naturally over time, but many things can cause unnatural or accelerated discolouration. If you’re wondering how can you avoid black veneers, the simplest changes are often the most effective. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and artificially coloured food and drink.
Of course, in some cases discolouration may be your dentist’s fault. Poor dental bonding, cheap materials, and inexperienced dentists can also cause discoloured veneers.
Caring for veneers
Veneers aren’t just something you get and forget about. As with every cosmetic dental treatment, constant care and maintenance are involved to ensure they don’t become discoloured or damaged. Clean your teeth twice daily, floss, and use mouthwash to give your veneers the best chance of staying white. Continue reading for further guidance on how to best care for your veneers.
Use a soft-bristled toothbrush
A soft-bristled toothbrush is key to proper oral care with veneers. Brushing with too hard a toothbrush can cause damage to your veneers and gums, leading to a receding gum line. The space that opens up between your gum and veneers will be exposed to bacteria and plaque and is often hard to reach by brushing. This will lead to a discoloured line, dramatically affecting the aesthetic of your smile.
Review your toothpaste ingredients
To avoid yellow veneers, make sure you’re using the right tools. A thorough routine is brilliant, but it’s still detrimental to your teeth if you use harmful ingredients in your toothpaste and mouthwash.
Use non-abrasive toothpastes, like those without baking soda, to avoid damage to your veneers which can lead to discolouration. With mouthwash, use non-alcoholic and non-coloured fluids to prevent yellow veneers.
What leads to staining veneers
Stained and discoloured veneers may happen naturally, but it’s normally a case of lifestyle choices that affect your veneers changing colour. Below, you’ll find several leading causes of veneer discolouration that you should avoid.
Smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products
Cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products lead the way in causing discolouration. To prevent your veneers from turning grey, you must stop smoking. If you’re a smoker, consult your dentist before committing to veneers to see if it’s appropriate for your lifestyle.
Drinking coffee
Coffee is a staining drink, with real teeth as with veneers. Avoid excessive coffee consumption to prevent your veneers from turning yellow. Always clean your teeth after coffee, too, to avoid bad breath.
Consuming red wine
Another drink infamous for its stain-producing qualities, red wine isn’t good for cosmetic dental treatments like veneers. Alcohol as a whole is detrimental to veneers, but red wine is particularly bad for staining and discolouring them. In general, it’s ebay to steer clear of red wine, just to be on the safe side.
Not limiting your soda intake
Excessive sugar intake can also cause discolouration. Your real teeth aren’t protected entirely from tooth decay, so consuming large amounts of soda and fizzy drinks can cause your teeth to turn yellow, which may become visible through your veneers.
Failing to schedule professional teeth cleanings twice a year
After your veneers are applied, your dentist will recommend you visit for professional check-ups and teeth cleanings every 4-6 months. Failing to make these appointments could lead to improper oral care and in turn cause discolouration through negligence.
Whiten my veneers
To whiten your veneers, it may be necessary to adjust your lifestyle in ways that cause less harm to your oral health. Quitting smoking, avoiding certain drinks, and limiting your alcohol intake are all lifestyle choices to whiten your veneers. As far as an artificial teeth whitening process goes, veneers cannot be bleached like regular teeth.
Can veneers be whitened?
Unlike with normal teeth, veneers themselves cannot be artificially whitened or bleached once put in. There are ways to reduce your staining, but a teeth whitening kit is too damaging to both porcelain and composite veneers.