I have a large dip in the middle of my front tooth. My dentist is about to fix it with dental bonding. I’m so excited about my new smile, that now I think I want to get my teeth whitened as well. Should I wait until he fixes my front tooth, or should I do the bonding first? Also, will whitening strips damage the bonding?

Casey W.- Austin, TX

Casey,

If you want to whiten your teeth, I would definitely do the teeth whitening before you get the bonding done. The  bonding will not whiten, but the teeth around the bonding would, making it look weird. Get your teeth whitened to the color you’ll be happy with, and then your dentist can match the tooth bonding to the new color.

I wouldn’t bother with the over-the-counter whitestrips. First, they will only cover your front six teeth. You’ll want to whiten all of your teeth, or it will not look that great.  Second, the whitening you can buy at the store is pretty weak, and would only be temporary. The kind of whitening you can get with your dentist is considerably stronger and does more than remove tooth stains. It whitens your teeth from the inside out, and is permanent.

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