New to Teeth Whitening

Amazing results from teeth whitening can be achieved but we need to understand more about the different treatment plus how the teeth get stained in the first place.

We will find that over a period of a few years the teeth will darken and become yellow in their colour which makes the teeth dull and they become dull in tone. When we say a few years this will range from person to person but will be on average between four to six years and this change will be gradual.

One of the contributing factors is the items we place in our mouths like drinking tea, red wines and even fruit juices like blackcurrant. If you smoke as well then add this on top! The real problem is that strainers are hard to avoid and therefore we need to understand that the teeth will always be getting stained and unlikely to stay white. We do have a certain amount of control of this situation by drinking less tea or coffee and swapping to water but the things listed above are the obvious things. Less obvious include just about anything that could stain a white shirt if spilt on.

Teeth whitening will work by soaking the tooth’s enamel with whitening gel typically a peroxide based gel and this will open the ducts which sit within the enamel and release the staining being held in the ducts or pores as they are also known. By keep repeating this process the enamel is deep cleansed and the whiter they become.

Different treatments for whitening include the home kits which are the like of trays, whitening strips and tooth pastes and mouthwashes. This will work for lighter staining but require longer treatments or more frequent treatments to see any results. Young people might benefit from these systems as the staining they will accumulate will be low level staining which a home kit will lift off quote easily.

The more heavier staining will need laser teeth whitening which is a fast and effective way of whitening done in one hour session to lift out the darker staining. The powerful combination of the light, heat, oxygen and the whitening gel will change the teeth’s colour quite rapidly in just three to four light applications.

How the teeth end up will be something nobody can predict exactly but they will whiten but not always like Simon Cowell! A natural smile is realistically achieved after whitening as our natural tooth’s colour is off white or creamy in colour and not the pure white we see as veneers on the celebrities.

After teeth whitening the things that previously have stained our teeth will continue to re-stain them and therefore we need to continue the whitening often enough to keep the teeth colour otherwise the good work will be lost quite quickly!

A combination of regular brushing, flossing, seeing your dentist every six months plus maybe the occasional use of a home kit will keep the teeth as white as possible for as long as possible!