Keeping Your Teeth White and Bright After Dental Bonding

Is dental bonding the unsung hero of dentistry? Perhaps you have a tooth that has significantly decayed to the point that a mere filling won't cut the mustard. No problem—it can be bonded. Maybe there's a gap between your front teeth that you've always wanted to fix but figured that costly veneers or a course of orthodontic treatment would be your only bet. No worries, because they can probably be bonded too. Dental bonding utilises resin to bulk up a tooth, restoring mass that might have been lost due to decay, or perhaps creating new mass to create a specific look, such as closing the gap between teeth. Bonding is a straightforward task for a cosmetic dentist to complete, and it can often be completed in a single visit. Seemingly as easily as dental bonding can solve your specific problem, it can sometimes become discoloured, particularly if your lifestyle speeds up the process. How can you keep your dental bonding looking clean and fresh in the years to come?

Composite Resin

Your dental bonding will look entirely natural, being a seamless combination of a natural tooth and the composite resin. It's necessary to remember that looking like a natural tooth and behaving like a natural tooth can be two very different things. When dental enamel becomes stained, it can be whitened. This is not so straightforward with the composite resin of your dental bonding. And it's also possible that you will have a tooth with a surface that is both natural enamel and composite resin, depending on the nature of the initial problem, meaning that there could be two types of discolouration on an individual tooth.

Porous Surface

The potential for severe discolouration is because the composite resin is porous and so can easily be stained by external elements, particularly those that are known to discolour teeth. So when it comes to smoking, as well as the consumption of red wine, coffee, tea and other potent items, you run the risk of substantially discolouring your new dental bonding, and when this bonding becomes noticeably stained, it might need to be replaced. So what can you do to prevent this?

Lifestyle Changes

It's a matter of making small changes to your lifestyle. For example, dental bonding presents a great opportunity to give up smoking. If this is not a realistic goal at this point, consider switching to vaping, which won't stain your teeth in the same manner as cigarettes. With drinks that are known to stain teeth, use a straw so that the beverage isn't splashed against your teeth as you drink. Use biodegradable straws (such as bamboo) instead of the plastic kind. For hot beverages, try something like a bombilla, which is a South American metal straw used to drink maté.

These relatively minor lifestyle changes should keep your dental bonding looking clean and white in the years to come. Reach out to a cosmetic dentist to learn more.


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