Old Bonding Has Discolored. Can This Be Retouched Up Without Drilling?

In many cases it is possible to repair old bonding without numbing the patient, but slight "drilling" would be necessary.   Your dentist can remove a small portion of the existing bonding making room for the new bonding.  Though this process is many time not invasive, it seems that you may have slight dental anxiety.  You may be a great candidate for oral sedation.  You would take a pill the morning of the appointment (approximately one hour prior to the procedure).  By the time of the scheduled appointment you would be very relaxed and possibly even sleeping.  I think this would be a great option  if you cannot take dental anesthesia.  Good luck.

I understand your concern.  This can be done without getting numb, but you may not get the esthetic results you desire, especially if the current bonding is much darker/yellow and there will be a big discrepancy.  Reason being is that the new layer of composite would probably be extremely thin, and the preexisting bonding may show through.  An opaque composite can be used to help block out the underlying layer, but it may not look as natural.  I would recommend for your dentist to gently and minimally "roughen" up the bonding with a bur on a drill, air abrade the composite with Aluminum Oxide, phosphoric acid etch, good adhesive and finally composite.  I will emphasize doing this in a dry field with no saliva contacting the teeth.  Air abrasion, phosphoric acid, and a good curing light to polymerize the composite are key components to successfully bond composite to composite.  It's worth a try, you have nothing to lose.   Unfortunately no whiteners can be used on bonding, it will not change color.  Hope this helps, good luck!

Hi there,
there is unfortunately no way to effectively whiten composite, as it is not made of the same material as tooth.  If it is in thin layers, then the underlying tooth may whiten slightly, causing the composite to camouflage and blend in, thus appearing whiter, but other than that the colour of composite is what it is.  Staining can be addressed by your dental hygienist with a thorough prophylaxis appointment.  My patients attend regularly to have their composite bonding repolished, to keep them looking nice and shiny and to check that the composite is still performing to the best possible standard.  One option may be to add a further layer of composite over the top if you needed to change the colour.  This could be achieved by preparing the surface layer slightly, either with a drill or with a sandblaster.  After this a special type of resin prepared the old composite, on which a new layer can be added.  This is easier with composite types which have been designed for high aesthetics such as Renamel (Cosmedent) and HFO (Mycerium).  You should most likely seek advice of your dentist who I am sure would be super happy to help you.  There are things that can often be done conservatively and I am sure they will look after you very well.
Hope this helps!
Best,
MJ x

Bonding material will absorb color and stain or darken over the years. If the color is still pleasing to you, then bonding can be touched up to repair areas of wear. However, bonding cannot be bleached out or whitened with toothpastes or even professional whitening systems. 
If they had to numb you the first time to do your bonding, then I am assuming the dentist removed some enamel off the front of your teeth. This is sometimes needed in a small percentage of situations. More commonly, bonding is done without numbing. 

Unfortunately tooth whitening only affects natural tooth and not crowns, fillings, bonding etc.  If the stains are very superficial they may be able to be removed with polishing burs/discs.  This could give some new life to the bonding.If the stains are deeper or show on the margins you may be able to patch them up with minimal prepping but the issue may be a difference in the material that was used years ago to what is used now.  Different types of composite (the material used in bonding) have different properties and that is especially true with old versus new composite filling material.  So while there can be a "best match" the difference in the materials may not allow this to blend perfectly.If you elect to have the bonding completely replaced, if the enamel was not or minimally removed during the original bonding then there should be minimal sensitivity during the procedure.  If the underlying tooth (dentin) is exposed, you could have significant sensitivity or discomfort.

Very frequently you can avoid being frozen for certain fillings including ones that only need to be changed due to discolouration.  The use of an Erbium Laser (Hard tissue laser) can eliminate the need for any freezing but majority of dentist do not use such lasers.  If the filling in question does not have a cavity and is stable then only the top layer might be needed to be removed and replaced with a lighter shade.  Such approach is more superficial not requiring the need to replace the entire filling, hence no  local anesthetics would be required.  

The great thing about a lot of bonding procedures is that they are usually painless.  The other thing is that old bonded fillings can be repaired/re-newed.  As long as there isn't any sign of bacterial leakage under the old bonding, the surface can be polished or re-surfaced to make it look as good as new.

In certain cases bonding can be touched up or made to appear brighter by polishing out superficial stains.  This is a non-invasive procedure that does not require anesthesia.  If the staining is to deep or caused by tooth decay, it may be necessary to remove parts of the bonding or parts of  the affected tooth.  One consideration for you if anesthesia is a problem or phobia of needles is a concern, would be to look into some type of sedation where any necessary dental treatment can be completed in a very comfortable manner.

You can have your bonding (assuming that it was composite material) to be touched up and renewed without removing the whole restoration from the tooth, if everything is a good condition: no cavity, no composite defects, favorable opposing occlusion. Composite adheres to composite very well and you should not have any problem with that.

You will be waisting your time and money if you will try to bleach your present bonded restorations.

Whitening procedures only whiten the tooth structure itself, not dental restorations such as fillings/bonding, crowns, or veneers.  Therefore, if you are unhappy with the shade of your bonding or if the bonding has become discolored, you will need to replace the bonding.  The dentist will remove the old material, clean any decay underneath, and then place a new filling.  As long as the dentist keeps the bur (drill) on the filling material while removing it, you will most likely not feel any sensitivity or pain. If there is decay underneath the old filling and the dentist needs to remove some tooth structure, then you may be more sensitive and may need to be anesthesized.  However, every person has a different pain threshold and responds differently to the procedure.  Thank you, Dr. Jahanian