Teeth Whitening
Bringing Out Your Very Best Smile
If you'd like to smile more confidently,
knowing your teeth are their whitest and brightest, you might want
to consider dentist-supervised
teeth whitening. Teeth whitening is a safe, effective and lasting
way to lighten most people's smiles, available in a wide variety of
methods
and concentrations for various kinds of teeth. Simply talk with us
about the criteria for best results, how whitening could impact your
particular situation and which procedure will best suit your needs.
Whitening
treatments are most successful in removing yellow, brown or orange
tinges resulting from age, coffee, tea or smoking. However,
dark gray tones from fluorosis, smoking or tetracycline use often
will not whiten as dramatically; artificial materials such as silicants
or porcelains do not whiten at all. Finally, sensitive teeth, teeth
with periodontal disease and teeth with worn enamel typically do
not
respond well to whitening.
There are two primary methods of whitening:
in-office whitening and supervised at-home whitening. In-office techniques
often make use
of a light-activated gel application, require as little as one
to two
hours and can improve color by up to 8 shades. Less expensive supervised
at-home methods produce results via daily sessions over one or
more weeks of wearing a customized gel-filled tray appliance, and may
result in about a 4 to 6 shade improvement as seen on the dentist's
shade
scale. Afterwards, you can best preserve your new, brighter smile
by limiting habits such as smoking and drinking coffee or tea.
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