I have been whitening my teeth at home. It was going okay until about a week ago. That’s when I felt a zing of pain. The pain happened right where I had some dental bonding done to repair a chip. Is it possible that the whitening is damaging the bonding? Will it fall off? Is there a way for me to whiten my teeth with bonding?

Loretta

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Dear Loretta,

There is no evidence that teeth whitening can damage the bonding on your teeth. If the bonding weakened, the repair would just fall off. My guess is that your chip repair has a small part that is exposed. This is likely what is causing the zing that you are feeling. It is possible you had a small piece of your repair that was damaged at some point and now the area is a bit sensitive.

My recommendation is that you temporarily stop your teeth whitening procedure until you can have your dentist look at this. I’m going under the assumption you are having your bleaching done under the care of a dentist. Even if you are not, this will need to be looked at.

The damaged portion to your dental bonding needs to be repaired. That will protect is from other problems as well. Then, once the sensitive portion is appropriately covered, you can resume your bleaching again. Your dentist won’t necessarily need to redo the repair. He or she may just need to coat it with something that will protect it from sensitivity.

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