Teeth yellow with age. Generally, smoking and food such as coffee, tea, red wine even blueberry pie, are the typical extrinsic culprits. Intrinsic causes are certain drugs (for example – tetracycline taken as a child) and certain nutritional deficiencies (lack of calcium).

The active ingredient in all bleaching or whitening systems is hydrogen peroxide. The do-it-yourself, over-the-counter systems are essentially peroxide bleaching kits. The main reason they may not be as effective as a dentist-supervised system is because the concentration of the chemicals is standardized.

By and large, the degree of satisfaction increases as the concentration of the agents used to bleach the teeth increases. If you are using a product prescribed by a dentist, it’s more likely that your results will be quicker and more

satisfactory. Our professional custom-made trays have the advantage of creating an intimate contact between the whitening gel and your teeth while over-the-counter kits contain a one-size-fits-all tray. With the one-size-fits-all tray, more of the whitening gel is apt to run down your throat.

Our office is excited to now offer ZOOM! 2 Whitening. You may have seen this method used on the hit television series – “Extreme Makeover”. This amazing product allows us to whiten your smile in as little as 45 minutes. Your tooth shade can lighten up to 8 shades! Special whitening gel is applied to your teeth and it is activated with ultra violet light. Zoom! 2 also comes with a take-home touch-up kit. This will include whitening trays that we will make for you here at the office, and a tube of whitening gel.

This is the most commonly used method of lightening your teeth. Generally, you wear the trays for at least 4 hours or longer while sleeping, for a period of two weeks. This method requires 4 office visits.

Impressions are taken of your teeth from which special custom whitening trays are made.

Your present tooth shade is recorded. The bleaching trays are fitted and adjusted if necessary. The tray serves two purposes: it delivers the bleach to your teeth and protects your gums and the soft tissue of your mouth. This protection allows the dentist to give you a higher concentration of bleaching agent (10%, 16% or 22% carbamide peroxide – a more viscous, easier-to-handle form of hydrogen peroxide) than you would get in an over-the-counter kit.