Teeth Whitening 101
Tooth whitening has proven to be a very effective procedure for brightening up the existing colour of your teeth and it does not involve the removal of the tooth surface or cause any damage to it. Typically, the original colour of the teeth is lightened by a few shades without actually turning them totally white.
There are different types of teeth whitening methods which are available including Zoom used by professional dentists. These include brushing, bleaching gel, bleaching strips, bleaching pen, laser bleaching etc. The most commonly used method of teeth whitening is professional bleaching. You need to first book a consultation with your dentist to analyse whether you are a suitable candidate for teeth whitening. Tooth whitening is slowly becoming one of the most popular dental procedures all over the world.
Methods of teeth whitening
The different methods of teeth whitening include
• In-office bleaching, which is done by a professional dentist
• At-home bleaching, which is done by the patient at home
• Over-the-counter, applied by patients
• Non-dental, offered at spas, salons, mall kiosks and so on.
It is recommended that individuals get their teeth examined by a professional dentist before they decide to undergo the whitening treatment. The dentist would basically analyse the oral health and history of the patient (any allergies, sensitivities and so on), examine the soft and hard tissues and restoration/placement conditions.
The dentist uses certain colour shade guides to determine the tooth colour. The success of the whitening treatment can be determined by these shades. These could vary from 2 to 7 shades. The bleaching results could last for many months/years but this varies and is dependent upon the general habits of the patient. It is also possible to clean dentures with the help of denture cleaners, but otherwise improving the shade of a denture requires making a new denture.
In-Office teeth whitening: Advantages
• You get the fastest results with in-office teeth whitening.
• It is the safest technique for bleaching teeth.
• Gum and tooth sensitivity were earlier considered to be setbacks in in-office bleaching but these can be easily controlled today with advanced dentistry practices (use of denser peroxide gels and desensitizers)
The stains caused due to ageing which cause the teeth to become yellow, green, brown or grey in colour are best removed by in-office whitening. In-office whitening is also effective in dealing with stains caused as a result of consumption of specific foods or drinks such as soft-drink, teas, coffee, dark-coloured vegetables and so on. Smoking-stained teeth can also be whitened with this procedure, but unless smoking is dramatically reduced/ceased staining will return quite quickly.
