Tooth Whitening
This information about tooth whitening is brought to you by the mynewsmile.com cosmetic dentistry information site, and was personally written by Dr. Hall, an accredited cosmetic dentist. Dr. Hall began whitening teeth when it was a relatively unknown treatment back in 1985. In 1991 he published his landmark research internationally demonstrating Nite White teeth whitening that there was no advantage in etching the teeth with acid prior to whitening them, which helped open the door to simpler tooth-whitening techniques.
Professionally Supervised Home Teeth Bleaching
The most popular technique allows you to make your smile whiter through dentist-supervised home treatments. The cosmetic dental office will custom make a splint for you, to fit precisely over your teeth. You place a gel in this splint and wear it for certain prescribed periods during the day, or overnight. Do this for two to four weeks or more, and your smile will be brighter! The trained cosmetic dentist will monitor your progress with short follow-up appointments.
Many cosmetic dentists recommend the Nite White and Day White gels, but there are other brands of bleaching gel that are also very effective.
Many people try over-the-counter teeth whitening products. However, they work poorly and in some cases can damage the teeth. There is one brand of whitening toothpaste that does an excellent job of removing surface tooth stains, but toothpastes won’t whiten the internal structure.
Advantages of tooth whitening: (As compared with porcelain veneers or tooth bonding—as techniques for making your smile brighter)
- It is much more comfortable and easier than getting porcelain veneers or bonding.
- It is less expensive than these other treatments.
- Nothing artificial has to be bonded or attached to your teeth.
- Your smile becomes permanently whiter.
- Maintaining maximum whiteness requires only minor touch-up treatments every year or two.
- It’s very effective. It usually whitens your teeth quite noticeably, and you can control the results by how diligent you are with the treatments.
- You can continue to bleach as much as you like by purchasing refill kits of the gel.
Day White teeth whitening
Disadvantages as compared with bonding or porcelain veneers:
- With bleaching, it isn’t possible to predict exactly how much it will whiten your smile.
- Since you are doing this at home, there is a potential for abuse by your not following directions.
- Results are dependent upon your home efforts.
- Dark tetracycline-stained teeth can’t be whitened effectively to appear natural.
The Procedure:
Effective teeth bleaching requires that the gel penetrate the tooth through the enamel to the underlying dentin. The enamel of a tooth is very translucent, and even the dentin is somewhat translucent. When a tooth is dark, the darkness is in the dentin. That’s why anything that is merely brushed on your tooth won’t change the color of the tooth permanently. A bleaching agent has to soak deeply into your tooth, and that takes time.
The color change is actually accomplished by free elemental oxygen, which oxidizes the stain, thus permanently removing it. The oxygen is released from a compound called a peroxide. Most gels contain carbamide peroxide, but some contain hydrogen peroxide. And, the greater the concentration, the greater the bleaching effect. The limitation comes in the irritation caused by the peroxide. The higher the concentration, the greater the irritation. The peroxide gels are made as concentrated as possible without causing irritation of the tooth or soft tissues.
So making your teeth whiter requires that the gel remain on the teeth for a period of time. To accomplish this, a custom-fitted tray is constructed to fit your teeth. The tray keeps the gel in contact with the teeth. Trays made professionally in a dental office are also trimmed to keep the gel off the gums if possible to keep the irritation effects to a minimum. The gel is placed over your teeth and you wear the tray for a period of time. Twenty minutes is a minimum time to allow the gel to penetrate the teeth—thirty minutes is better. Overnight gels obviously remain on the teeth for hours. Then, repeated contact is required.
Questions about teeth whitening from visitors to our site:
Q ; What if I have porcelain veneers? Can I whiten those?
Answer: According to recent studies, you can whiten your teeth a little if you have porcelain veneers. Teeth bleaching will not whiten the porcelain veneers themselves, but you can whiten the teeth under the veneers. Depending on the translucency of the veneers, the whiter teeth will probably show through to some extent. Porcelain veneers cover just the fronts of the teeth - the teeth bleaching gel can still penetrate from behind the teeth.
This information is provided for you by the mynewsmile.com cosmetic dentistry information and referral service, and was personally written by Dr. David Hall. If you would like to be referred to a cosmetic dentist who would be expert in all of these questions about tooth whitening, please see our cosmetic dentist referral page.
by Dr. Hall
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