No. Whitening gels, strips and whitening toothpastes only lighten natural tooth enamel. They do not change the color of tooth-colored fillings, bonding, crowns or veneers. What you can do is plan around that, so your fillings match your teeth when you are finished. This article explains how, including for the fillings on front teeth that people notice most.
Published September 2026
Why whitening works on teeth but not on fillings
Whitening gels contain a peroxide that soaks into enamel and breaks down the stain inside the tooth, so the tooth itself becomes lighter. A composite filling is resin and glass, and a crown or veneer is porcelain or zirconia. The peroxide has nothing in them to lighten, so they stay the color they were made in.
At most, whitening can lift a little surface stain off a filling, which can make it look slightly brighter. Its underlying shade does not change.
What happens if you whiten with fillings
Your teeth get lighter and your fillings do not, so fillings that matched before can look darker or more yellow afterwards. On back teeth nobody notices. On front teeth, where a filling or bonding covers part of the visible surface, the difference can stand out.
That is not a reason to avoid whitening. It is a reason to do things in the right order.
The right order
- Check-up and cleaning first. We check for decay and leaking fillings, which should be fixed before whitening, and a cleaning removes surface stain so you see your real starting shade.
- Whiten, in the office or with custom take-home trays. See teeth whitening.
- Match the fillings. Visible fillings that no longer match are polished or replaced in your new shade.
If you already have crowns or veneers on front teeth, tell us before you whiten. They cannot be lightened, so the whitening should aim for a shade that matches them, or the plan should include replacing them.
How to whiten fillings on front teeth
Because the filling itself cannot be bleached, the options are:
- Polish it. If the filling has only picked up surface stain, a polish brings it back to its original shade, with no numbing and no drilling.
- Replace it in a lighter shade. After whitening, the filling is replaced to match your new tooth color. For a small filling this is usually one short visit.
- Cover it. Where a front tooth has several large fillings, bonding over the whole front surface, a veneer or a crown can give a more even result than patching filling by filling.
If several front teeth are involved, it is worth planning them together. See smile makeovers.
Replacing old silver fillings with white ones
Silver (amalgam) fillings cannot be whitened either, and over time they can make the tooth around them look gray. They can be replaced with tooth-colored fillings whenever you are ready. If a silver filling is sound there is no health reason you must replace it; if it is leaking, cracked or has decay under it, replacing it is worth doing anyway.
What about whitening strips and toothpaste?
They behave the same way as professional whitening, only more slowly: teeth lighten, fillings do not. Whitening toothpastes mostly work by scrubbing surface stain away, and the harsher ones can scratch composite so that it dulls and stains faster. If you have tooth-colored fillings or bonding on your front teeth, an ordinary low-abrasion toothpaste is the better everyday choice.
Cost and insurance
Whitening, and replacing a sound filling purely to change its color, are cosmetic, and most insurance plans do not pay for them. Replacing a filling that has failed or has decay under it is usually covered in the normal way. We check your plan and give you the cost of each step before you start, so you can decide what to do and when.
Common questions
Can you whiten composite fillings?
No. Whitening lightens natural enamel only. A composite filling can be polished to remove surface stain, or replaced in a lighter shade after your teeth have been whitened.
Do whitening strips work on fillings?
No. Strips lighten the teeth around a filling but not the filling itself, so on front teeth they can make an old filling stand out more.
Can I whiten my teeth if I have fillings?
Yes. The fillings will simply stay their current color. Whiten first, then have any visible fillings that no longer match polished or replaced.
How do I whiten a filling on a front tooth?
You cannot bleach it, but you can polish off surface stain, replace the filling in a lighter shade after whitening, or, where a tooth has large fillings, cover it with bonding, a veneer or a crown.
Do fillings get whiter along with your teeth?
No. Only natural enamel responds to whitening. Fillings, bonding, crowns and veneers keep the color they were made in.
Can I get my silver fillings changed to white ones?
Yes, whenever you are ready. If a silver filling is sound there is no health reason you have to; if it is leaking or cracked, replacing it is worth doing anyway.
Planning to whiten, or unhappy with how a front-tooth filling looks? Call 201-425-8600 or request an appointment. We are at 115 Christopher Columbus Drive, Suite 200, two minutes from the Grove Street PATH. More articles and treatment guides are on our patient guides page.