Tooth Whitening
Tooth whitening
Tooth whitening (or bleaching) is a simple, non-invasive dental treatment used to change the colour of the natural teeth by removing discoloration caused by brown and yellow staining. Tooth whitening can therefore make your teeth very attractive and it will put a sparkle into your smile! It is an ideal way to enhance the natural beauty of your smile.
What types of tooth whitening do we offer at our practice?
There are two methods to choose from:
- Power-Home combination bleaching
- Home bleaching
1. Power-Home Combination Bleaching:
This type of tooth whitening is the most effective way to bleach teeth and usually requires three visits:
At the first appointment, impressions (moulds) will be made of your teeth to fabricate custom, clear plastic trays. The colour/shade of your teeth are determined on a tooth-colour reference chart and sometimes we take photographs to assist us with this process.
At the secondvisit, a strong, special, imported dental bleaching agent is applied to your upper teeth in the dental chair under special conditions to protect your gums and lips. After one hour of power bleaching, we will try on the plastic bleaching trays that were made up by a dental laboratory and supply you with a special bleaching gel and instructions of use to take home. The trays are worn with this gel either twice a day for 30 minutes or overnight for a couple of weeks depending on the degree of staining and desired level of whitening you wish to achieve. It is normal to experience tooth sensitivity during the time you are whitening your teeth, but it will subside shortly after you have stopped bleaching.
At your thirdvisit we check the progress with your upper teeth and then power bleach your lower teeth.
2. Home Bleaching.
This type of bleaching takes two visits:
At the first appointment, impressions (moulds) will be made of your teeth to fabricate custom, clear plastic trays. The colour/shade of your teeth are determined on a tooth-colour reference chart and sometimes we take photographs to assist us with this process.
At the second visit we supply you with the plastic bleaching trays that were made up by a dental laboratory and supply you with a special bleaching gel and instructions of use to take home. The trays are worn with this gel either twice a day for 30 minutes or overnight for a couple of weeks depending on the degree of staining and desired level of whitening you wish to achieve. It is normal to experience tooth sensitivity during the time you are whitening your teeth, but it will subside shortly after you have stopped bleaching.
We use only registered bleaching agents that have been rated the safest and most effective in the world by the Clinical Research Associates in Canada. This particular product has been in use in the USA for more than twenty years.
Tooth whitening is not permanent. A touch-up maybe needed every 2 years, and more often if you smoke, drink coffee, tea, or wine.
We encourage you to visit us regularly to help maintain your beautiful, healthy white smile. Since tooth whitening only works on natural tooth enamel and dentine, it is important to evaluate replacement of any old fillings, crowns, etc. Replacement of any restorations will be done after bleaching so they will match the newly bleached teeth.
Give us a call to put a sparkle into your smile!
