How does it work?
Well there's no Tipp-ex involved, thats for sure! Tooth whitening involves the application of a bleaching gel to the teeth to bring out the lightest natural shade of your teeth. The gel is held on your teeth in custom made, snug fitting mouth guards. Moulds are taken of your teeth from which a laboratory creates soft mouth guards that fit your teeth perfectly. Once I have checked that they fit you well, I train you how to apply the gel in the mouthguards yourself. You then take these home and wear them every night while you sleep (ideally 8 hours a night) for about 2 weeks, or until you are happy with the level of whiteness- it's that simple! If you don't like wearing them while you sleep, you can wear them in the day for around 3 hours a day. When you have completed your whitening, you come back in for a review to ensure that you are happy with the results. If you still want to go whiter, not a problem! we can keep whitening your teeth until you're happy!
Can anyone do it?
No- if you are pregnant or breast feeding, unfortunately you can't. If you are suffering from any broken teeth, tooth decay, infections, strong sensitivity, faulty fillings or gum disease, these must also first be treated first to prevent further damage or pain. Once these conditions have been stabilised you should be suitable for whitening. If you have crowns, veneers, bridges, implants, bonding or fillings on your teeth, these will not change colour. If you are unhappy with the colour of any of these, you may want to whiten the rest of your teeth first and get new dental work provided in a matching whiter shade to give you an even brighter smile. Many people have receding gums for a number of reasons. This shows the yellow/ brown root surfaces of the teeth. These can't be whitened with any amount of whitening gel. Often these areas are camouflaged with composite bonding (which doesn't involve any drilling). To make sure that you get the results you desire, it's important I carry out a full dental check up first- this way any of these issues can be addressed.
"I've heard it's painful!"
In some cases people may experience pain from whitening, similar to the feeling when you have a very cold icy drink. There are lots of ways to avoid this, which I teach all of my patients. If you are someone who already gets a lot of sensitivity from their teeth then we need to investigate why and help treat this first. If you do not routinely get sensitive tooth pain, you are great candidate!
"I just want it done in the clinic, not at home."
A quick Google for tooth whitening shows lots of photos of people wearing an odd contraption on their face with a blue light being shone on their teeth and lots of offers online for 45 minutes of in-chair whitening. These procedures involve applying the same strength whitening gel to your teeth as would be provided for home whitening, and shining a blue light on your teeth to help increase the effectiveness of the gel. Immediately after the procedure your teeth will indeed appear whiter. This appearance is due to a combination of the mild whitening effect of the gel, but more so due to the dehydration of your teeth from being exposed to the air for almost an hour. It's a similar effect to looking at the streets before and after it rains- when the roads are dry, they appear pale and after it rains and they're wet, they appear depressingly dark. It is for this reason I would only ever recommend in-chair whitening to help quickly achieve a change for an imminent event, but in order to keep and improve the results, home whitening is needed.
Certain whitening systems such as Enlighten Whitening, include an in-chair whitening session at the end of the 2 week period to ensure that the final shade is as bright as possible. This works in a different way to the laser whitening, and is much more effective in improving your shade in a sustainable way.
Certain whitening systems such as Enlighten Whitening, include an in-chair whitening session at the end of the 2 week period to ensure that the final shade is as bright as possible. This works in a different way to the laser whitening, and is much more effective in improving your shade in a sustainable way.