I’ve had my veneers for ten years. They have always stayed white, but for some reason in the last two months, they have been getting darker. THey’re supposed to last longer than this. Do you know what is going wrong? I take really good care of them.

Stephanie H. – Baton Rouge, LA

Stephanie,

I can’t give a 100% certain answer without seeing your veneers, but I can tell you what I suspect. It sounds to me like the glazing on your porcelain veneers have been damaged. This can  happen during your dental cleaning.

Did your dental hygienist use any power polishing equipment such as prophy-jet? It will take the glaze off your veneers in just one treatment. You wouldn’t notice, because it would look nice and shiny when you leave, but will immediately begin picking up staining.

It can be fixed, but you will need an expert cosmetic dentist who knows how to restore them using advanced polishing techniques. They’ll need some diamond grit polishers.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa cosmetic dentist Dr. Jerome Cha.