Investing in a professional teeth whitening treatment is highly beneficial. You and your dentist can discuss the best shade for your teeth, and achieve it in a set period of time, which is great if you have a special event that you want to be ready for. You can manage tooth sensitivity and other risk factors under the guidance of a professional and ultimately, feel satisfied with your results. Let’s have a closer look at how the teeth whitening process works.
Why Do We Need Professional Teeth Whitening?
Tooth discolouration is a natural side effect of the ageing process and to some extent it is unavoidable. Drinking coffee, red wine and smoking tobacco can compound the effect of yellowing or discoloured teeth, as can some medications.
Professional products like teeth whitening contain high strength bleaching agent (usually hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen carbamide) that can penetrate the enamel of your teeth, accessing the dentin and breaking up the stained molecules inside.
What About Teeth Whitening Strips And Toothpaste?
There are a number of teeth whitening gels, strips and kits on the market that make big promises but often fall short of delivering on professional results. And this is because these products are not as strong as professional products, which stops them penetrating your tooth enamel. This means that they cannot whiten the overall shade of your teeth but they may be helpful at managing surface stains.
It is a requirement that you have a thorough dental check up and clean before you do any kind of whitening treatment. This is to ensure that your mouth is free of cavities and decay and that there are no cracks in your tooth enamel. Your dentist will also polish your teeth afterwards, removing plaque and tartar, to give you a good basis on which to whiten.
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
At Serenity Smiles Dental we work with the reputable Zoom teeth whitening system, which actually gives our patients two options: an in-office treatment or take-home trays supervised by your dental practitioner. What’s the difference?
The Differences Between In-Chair And Take-Home Whitening Treatments
In office whitening gels contain a much higher strength bleaching agent because they are managed and applied by a dental professional. This is ideal for you as the patient because you can achieve your desired shade of whitening very quickly, often in just one session. Sometimes two or three follow up sessions are required.
When you use the take-home trays you will probably use them for a few more sessions because the whitening agent is weaker. Usually within seven days most patients have achieved their desired shade of whitening. When your dental professional performs the procedure he or she will also make use of a light or lamp, which speeds up the process. This also allows your dentist to do spot whitening and give certain areas a bit more attention if necessary.
Your dentist will discuss the best time to return for a top up whitening treatment, to maintain your new white smile for as long as possible.
What Risk Factors Are Involved?
Supervised teeth whitening is considered a safe cosmetic procedure when you follow your practitioner’s instructions but working with peroxide does carry some risk.
Tooth sensitivity
Tooth sensitivity is one of the biggest risk factors associated with teeth whitening and one of the primary reasons that patients cannot self administer high strength bleaching agent to their own teeth. It is also why you should never leave the bleach on for longer than instructed, because it can exacerbate tooth sensitivity.
Using a high quality product like Zoom teeth whitening provides you with protection against tooth sensitivity during and after your treatment.
Damage to your soft tissues
Whenever you whiten you must ensure that the soft tissue in your mouth is protected from making contact with the bleaching agent as it could cause damage. When your teeth are professionally whitened, this is much easier to manage.
Professional at-home teeth whitening treatments are administered via trays that are filled with bleaching gel. The design of the trays avoids the gums, tongue and cheeks but you should still take care that you do not spill any gel when using them.
Damage to your tooth enamel
Using sub-standard products can do more damage than good to your teeth, and so can not following the instructions. If you do opt for a take-home kit be sure that you follow all your dentist’s instructions.
Still have questions about professional teeth whitening? Give us a call and let’s make an appointment for you: (02) 9158 6753