Will Zoom Whitening Adversely Affect my Cosmetically Bonded Front Teeth?

Question

I had bonding (I assume composite resin?) placed on all four of my top front teeth approximately four years ago. There is quite a lot of bonding material there, because the purpose was to close rather large gaps between my teeth. Four years later, the bonding material is now lighter than my actual teeth. They were a very close match before, so I'm guessing that my natural teeth have discolored over time. Will Zoom whitening ruin the bonding material? I have read conflicting things.

Leonard Tau, DMD · Answer

Bleaching will not effect your dental bonding and should lighten the natural tooth but it is very unpredictable to know if the color will match when completed

Jay Neuhaus, DDS · Answer

The bleach usually will only work on your natural enamel. There is no way to predict how much your enamel will lighten, but it is definitely worth trying.

Donald L. Wilcox, DDS · Answer

It should not adversely affect your bonding. How the bonding will match up with your natural teeth following the bleaching will not be predictable but hopefully will match better than your current situation.

James Powell, DDS (retired) · Answer

Zoom whitening should not affect your front teeth that are bonded, but be aware that the color of your surrounding teeth may become whiter than your bonded teeth. Your teeth over time become lighter and less white but the bonding material color will always stay the same (although the margins of the bonding may turn darker). Therefore, if you do have the whitening done and the colors do not completely match (esthetically), you might opt to have the composite bonding redone, or try to get your natural teeth color as close to the bonding as possible.

Will Zoom Whitening Adversely Affect my Cosmetically Bonded Front Teeth?

Answers (4)