I had a set of porcelain veneers done- six in total with teeth whitening for the remainder of the teeth. I noticed a small scratch on one of my veneers when I got home. I called the dentist and he scheduled me to come in three days later so he could remove the scratch. After he did that, it looked fine, but again, later that day I noticed the area where the scratch was does not have the same shine as the rest of the veneer. It has more of a matte finish, like you see in paint options. Will this cause that tooth to stain? I thought the glaze was sort of what kept things white.
Pamela
Dear Pamela,
You are correct. You need that glaze to protect your porcelain veneer and it seems like your dentist removed it. If you are otherwise happy with the work your dentist did, then you can give him a chance to fix this. When a veneer has a matte finish, it will be susceptible to staining. He can polish this up to get the glaze back. Though a fairly simple procedure, it does take some specialized knowledge and equipment. He will need diamond polishing instruments and two types of polishing paste. The second one needs to be an ultra-fine diamond polishing paste. The ultra fine paste needs to be done as the final step.
If he doesn’t have this equipment, you can suggest he use Brasseler’s Dialite porcelain polishing system. Many skilled cosmetic dentists use this particular brand. He should be able to get your shine back. If for some reason he can’t, I suggest you ask him to pay for another dentist to do it correctly. He’s the one who damaged them, so he should bear the burden of the cost.
This blog is brought to you by Des Moines Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Phelan Thomas, an AACD accredited dentist.