Teeth Whitening
A Bright Smile!
Teeth yellow with age. Smoking and foods such as coffee, tea, red wine, and even blueberry pie, are the typical culprits. Other causes are certain drugs (e.g. tetracycline use in childhood) and certain nutritional deficiencies (e.g. lack of calcium).
The only way to actually whiten your teeth is through chemical bleaching.
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 due to the concentration of the chemicals.
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.
If you are concerned about the appearance of your teeth, please call us and book an appointment to explore convenient teeth whitening options.
Spa Dent in-office whitening treatment
Spa Dent teeth whitening system is available at Appleton Dental. Spa Dent whitening is an easy and convenient way to complete a session of in-office whitening in as little as 30 minutes. Spa Dent comes with a gel that is gentler on the tissues and provides the same results as the ZOOM whitening system. With this system teeth will go from 2 – 8 shades whiter. Spa Dent is the number one whitening system for people with sensitive teeth. Spa Dent whitening uses a cool blue LED light that activates the product for a faster and longer lasting result. We recommend that you get your teeth cleaned before getting the whitening done for best results.
Take-home, dentist supervised whitening with custom-made trays.
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.
First visit: Impressions are taken of your teeth from which special custom whitening trays are made.
Second visit: 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.
Third visit: A few days after you have begun the treatments, we evaluate the progress of the whitening. We then estimate how many more days of whitening treatment you will require and give you enough gel syringes to complete the treatment.
Fourth visit: Two weeks after you have completed the daily treatments, the final shade of your teeth is recorded for future comparison. Your teeth are examined to determine if any restorations need to be changed to match your new tooth color.
