My sister just had teeth whitening done. Her teeth are much whiter, which makes her very happy. And I’m happy to see her proud of her smile. But, her smile is blotchy. I think it’s the few fillings she has that are visible. They don’t seem to have whitened. I don’t know if I should tell her or let her remain obliviously happy. As a cosmetic dentist, do you have any recommendations on how to fix this? I don’t just want to tell her something is wrong without giving her a way to make it better.
Amanda W.
Dear Amanda,
It’s obvious you care about your sister very much, which is wonderful. We all need someone who has our back. If your sister has fillings they won’t whiten. Only natural tooth structure responds to teeth whitening. So, you’re right, that’s why her teeth are looking blotchy. However, if she went to even a halfway decent cosmetic dentist they likely warned her about that and have made preparations to take care of it.
They’re probably waiting a couple of weeks for the color to settle down. When that’s completed they’ll replace her fillings with new white composite fillings mixed to match the new color of her teeth.
It’s amazing what even the simplest cosmetic procedure can do for someone’s confidence. I’d wait a few weeks before saying anything to her. You don’t want to do anything to her confidence if her cosmetic dentist already has things in hand. If a few weeks go by and nothing is done with her fillings, then you can sit her down and let her know. But, be certain to let her know it’s an easy fix. If it turns out her dentist didn’t warn her about this, then she really needs to go to a different dentist to have this worked on. Someone competent.
Teeth Whitening is easy, but matching the composite filling to the exact color of her teeth requires slightly more skill. She’ll want someone who could really match it.
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