TEETH WHITENING
Teeth whitening (or bleaching) is a simple, non-invasive dental treatment used to change the color of natural tooth enamel and is an ideal way to enhance the beauty of your smile.
Teeth whitening (or bleaching) is a simple, non-invasive dental treatment used to change the color of natural tooth enamel and is an ideal way to enhance the beauty of your smile.
Just as the name implies, tooth whitening is a process to brighten and boost the colour of natural teeth. Because having whiter teeth has now become the number one aesthetic concern of most patients, there are a number of ways to whiten teeth. The most popular method is using a home teeth whitening system that will whiten teeth dramatically. Since teeth whitening only works on natural tooth enamel, it is important to evaluate replacement of any old fillings, crowns, etc. Replacement of any restorations will be done after whitening so that they will match the new shade of your teeth.
The chemistry behind tooth whitening is by using a peroxide of a specific concentration, you produce a chemical reaction on the ‘internal’ stain within the tooth to neutralise it. Once neutralised it makes its way out of the tooth, leaving the tooth structure itself untouched.
This makes tooth whitening very safe as there is no reduction or loss of your natural tooth. It is worth being aware that there is a natural porosity in all our teeth, and whitening increases the porosity significantly. This is partly what creates the transient sensitivity that occurs with the treatment. After you complete your whitening treatment, the tooth will return to its natural porosity within 2-3 weeks.
Teeth whitening results are long lasting as long as the maintenance regime is followed. A touch-up may be needed every several years, and more often if you smoke, drink coffee, tea, or wine.
TEETH WHITENING
Reasons for teeth whitening:
Reasons for teeth whitening:
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Fluorosis (excessive fluoridation during tooth development).
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Normal wear of outer tooth layer.
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Stained teeth due to medications.
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Yellow, brown stained teeth.
What does teeth whitening involve?
What does teeth whitening involve?
The regime you follow will be prescribed by your dentist, and there are several approaches and protocols available. The ‘evidenced based practice’ shows that night time whitening for a prolonged period gives the most colour stability. Daytime and power in surgery whitening also work, however, the drawback is the stability is not quite as good.
This type of teeth whitening usually requires two visits. At the first appointment, impressions (molds) will be made of your teeth to fabricate custom, clear plastic, trays.
At your second appointment, you will try on the trays for proper fit, and adjustments will be made if necessary. The trays are worn with special whitening solution for the required amount of time depending on the degree of staining and desired level of whitening. It is normal to experience tooth sensitivity during the time you are whitening your teeth, but it will subside shortly after you have stopped the whitening process.
You will receive care instructions for your teeth and trays, and be encouraged to visit your dentist regularly to help maintain a beautiful, healthy, white smile.
TEETH WHITENING
Home systems are undoubtedly more effective to retain the brightness of your teeth. Exposing your teeth to the peroxide tooth whitening gel once in surgery will only give you a short-term boost.
We recommend visiting a tooth whitening dentist like ours at Serenity Facial and Dental Aesthetics who can then prescribe you a professional tooth whitening programme to follow at home using the right concentration of peroxide tooth whitening gel.
We use custom made whitening trays with high positive pressure, used with carbamide peroxide at different concentration (16% highest) depending on the degree of your teeth staining and desired level of whitening.
The tooth whitening process itself is painless. However, some transient pain may be experienced post-treatment due to sensitivity.
Tooth sensitivity after whitening is common for most people and this can range from mild to severe. The good news is that it is temporary, so if you can put up with some discomfort for whiter teeth, it will be worth it!
As long as you follow our maintenance regime, results are long lasting! A touch-up may be needed every several years, and more often if you smoke, drink coffee, tea, or wine.
There is no data to support whitening as being dangerous during pregnancy, and physiologically, the breakdown products of the gel are oxygen and water, which are both harmless by-products. That being said, deferring cosmetic treatments until post-parturition is advisable.
There is no established risk to whitening whilst breast feeding, however, there are no studies of note to refer to here.
Dead tooth whitening is possible although it is more complicated and comes with potential risks.
If the nerve of the tooth is still alive and the color of the tooth is just darker or perhaps much darker than the other teeth around it, then whitening is still possible.
On the other hand, if the nerve is no longer active and the tooth is dead then this will need to be treated first. Removal of the tooth and the insertion of a dental implant may be a better option, or a simple root canal procedure to remove the dead pulp from inside of the tooth.
It is important that this is performed before the whitening process as then either your crowned tooth or dental implant can be inserted to match the color of the rest of your teeth.
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