Teeth Whitening is a great treatment choice for those teeth that are discoloured. The teeth are bleached to a whiter colour.
In most cases, we can whiten teeth to several shades brighter showing a significant improvement.
Teeth whitening are an easy and simple solution that can enhance a smile without being overly intrusive or invasive on tooth tissue. It is a great conservative method that falls into the category of cosmetic dentistry. Read more on discoloured teeth.
The procedure does not involve any loss of tooth tissue and so preserves your teeth structure.
There are two methods of teeth whitening:
- Home Whitening.
This is where a teeth whitening kit is given to you and you spend some time each day in the comfort of your own home, with the whitening gel on your teeth in a specially designed tray.
- In-Surgery Whitening
This is when the gel is painted onto the outside or inside of your teeth and a special light or laser is shone onto the gel to activate it. The results are noticeable within 1 hour of the treatment.
These days, since the home whitening treatment gives excellent results at a fraction of the cost of laser whitening, we usually recommend home whitening.
However, in specific cases, in-surgery whitening is necessary such as intrinsic whitening that bleaches the inside of a root canal treated tooth.
Teeth Whitening Procedure:
Examination and Diagnosis.
It is important for the dentist to correctly diagnose the cause of the discolouration so that the best course of action can be found. The dentist will need to discover whether it is an external or internal discolouration. Causes of discoloured teeth.
If it is internal, then we need to decipher the actual cause so that you can get the best possible outcome from the treatment.
Discolourations can arise from leaking old fillings, stained root canal filling, and dental decay or from an anomaly in the tooth structure.
Starting shade of your teeth or tooth.
Either the dentist or dental hygiene therapist will check the starting shade of your teeth. There is a specific shade guide that allows us to place you on the spectrum of different shades of teeth from pure white to dark. Visit a dental hygienist today.
It is important for us to know what the original shade of your teeth is so that we can understand how to achieve the most optimal results for you.
An Impression of your teeth.
The dentist will make a mould of your teeth to create special teeth whitening trays that will deliver the appropriate type and quantity of bleaching agent onto your teeth.
Use of whitening gels.
You will be advised as to how to get the best whitening result for your particular case. Normally in most cases, it involves wearing the tray with the bleaching agent in it for 20-40 minutes a day for 1-2 weeks.
Bleaching agents vary and can include 10% or 16% Carbamide Peroxide or 6% Hydrogen Peroxide. Which type of gel used is very much dependent upon the individual case and the treatment goals.
Review of results.
The dentist or hygiene therapist will then review you after 1-2 weeks to determine if the results are adequate or whether a further week or two of whitening is required.
They will also check the shade achieved so far and compare to your initial shade at the start of the treatment. If any further treatment is necessary to achieve the cosmetic results then the dentist will explain your options to you.
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