Teeth Whitening
Teeth Whitening is a safe and effective system that reverses the staining effects of coffee, wine, food, tobacco, aging, and other lifestyle factors. Our office provides custom bleach trays that you fill with professional bleach 1 hour a day for about two weeks. The bleach removes the stain from your teeth by opening the micro-pores of the tooth and bleaching out the stain. This does not damage the teeth in any way, but it can make them more sensitive to cold drinks and foods. When your teeth reach the desired level of brightness. only maintenance treatment in needed. For maintenance, we recommend whitening for 2-3 days after your cleaning.
Tips to decrease tooth sensitivity while bleaching
- Use a sensitive tooth paste, not a whitening tooth paste. Whitening tooth pastes are more abrasive to remove external tooth stains and can cause more sensitivity
- Avoid really cold foods and drinks
- Don’t use too much bleach in the trays. More isn’t necessarily better. If the bleach gets on your gum tissue it will cause irritation and most likely more sensitivity
- If you already have sensitive teeth or your teeth become sensitive, use the bleach trays every other day
It is important to note that crowns, veneers and composite (white) fillings will not change color, so some dental work may be required to achieve the desired results.
Yellow is the quickest stain to remove from teeth and should give you your desired results in 2-3 weeks depending on how sensitive your teeth are. Grey stain, either from tetracycline or lifestyle factors, is difficult to remove from teeth. It may take many months of whitening to remove grey stains. In cases of extreme discoloration, crowns or veneers maybe the only option for your desired results.
