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TEETH WHITENING

Every person has different basic colour of their teeth. Some people have yellowish or brownish teeth by birth and some people experience discoloration of teeth with age due to multiple causes. Properly performed teeth whitening can make teeth many shades whiter and give you a beautiful smile.

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Our professionals have a full protocol for teeth whitening. We do following steps before starting whitening procedures:

  • Examination of the patient’s teeth, gingiva, and oral mucosa.
  • Determine the level of dental sensitivity.
  • Educate patient regarding procedure and after care.
  • Treatment of any possible infections or cavities before proceeding.
  • Do scaling and polishing before starting any whitening procedure.

 

Urban clinic offers two different teeth whitening methods depending on patients’ requirements and ease:

Home whitening treatment: This method is gradual process of whitening at home using custom moulded whitening trays. Your dentist will make impressions of your teeth to create molds that make your custom fitted whitening trays. Once you have trays, a bleaching gel will be provided to you and instruction will be given how to place that within the trays as you wear them for up to 4 hours/day or overnight for 1-2 weeks. You’ll notice a significant improvement in the whiteness of your teeth within that time.

This method if not followed accurately by the patient, leads to misuse and can lead to excessive gingival burning and dental sensitivity. Although we have this option as whitening procedure but we always prefer to provide in-office teeth whitening to prevent irreversible damage to the teeth or tissues surrounding them due to misuse of whitening product at home by patients.

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In-office teeth whitening: The second method is in-clinic  teeth whitening where we whiten your teeth while you sit in the dentist’s chair. This method whitens your teeth immediately.  Before commencing the procedure, our expert dentists follow all the steps mentioned earlier from detailed examination to cleaning of teeth.  These steps also help in evaluation of the suitability of whitening for the patient . whitening  procedure starts when the dentist the gums and lips of patient using a protective layer  and then using adequate cheek and tongue retractors to avoid any contact with whitening gel. Only teeth must be exposed to the whitening solution.

After the lip and gum are covered, your dentist will apply a bleaching agent (consisting of hydrogen peroxide) for teeth whitening. The dentist will point a blue colored light directly at your teeth to activate the gel instantly. This session takes around 15 minutes before the whitening gel is removed and a new layer is applied.

This professional teeth whitening treatment takes around two to three sessions of whitening gel to get the desired result. At the end of sessions, our dentists also apply fluoride gel onto teeth to prevent any sensitivity issues.

Our professionals always give a detailed aftercare instructions that all patients need to follow after whitening procedure for lasting results.

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FAQs

Yes, it is likely that there will be some sensitivity to teeth after whitening treatment. But every person experience varied level of sensitivity. Therefore it is always instructed to avoid any cold or hot beverages for at least first 48hours after treatment. This sensitivity fades away with time.

During the home bleaching period and right after in-office whitening treatment, one should avoid:

  1. acid based drinks or food, e.g pickles, soda drinks, citrus fruits like lemon and oranges;
  2. avoid colored foods and beverages, e.g soy sauce, tomato sauce, blackberries, blueberries, coffee, tea, curry containing turmeric etc
  3. avoid cold or hot beverages as this will lead to more sensitivity of teeth

After whitening treatment one should brush gently, avoid hot and cold drinks , avoid colored and acidic foods and beverages, use fluoride products, avoid tobacco use, avoid colored mouthwash and use straw for coffee and tea. These instructions should be followed for at least 1 week.

Even though teeth whitening treatments which are done professionally have incredible success rates, it does not guarantee any permanent results. Your teeth can remain white for about 6 months to 1 year and after that you will need retreatment if you desire to have white teeth longer than that. The more you care and follow the instructions the longer your  teeth remain white and bright.

It is recommended to get one or two professional whitening treatments on at least 6 month gap. At-home whitening should be used for upto 14 consecutive days.

It is recommended to get professional cleaning of teeth before any whitening treatment. Scaling and polishing of teeth removes all the food debris, plaque and calculus deposits from teeth which may block the whitening agent from reaching everywhere. Cleaning will make whitening of teeth more uniform and easier.

Sometimes the gums are inflamed after and may worsen with the whitening product. Therefore in such cases your dentist will instruct you to wait till the inflammation resolves after thorough cleaning of teeth.

Follow good dental hygiene before your whitening treatments. Use soft brush to avoid irritating your gums. Increase intake of water and avoid any acidic food or beverages so that your teeth are ready for whitening.

Patients can expect some sensitivity, discomfort in the teeth and gums but these effects last only for couple of hours to days and fades away with time.

Use tooth sensitivity toothpastes or fluoride gels and avoid hot and cold and acidic food and beverages

Almost all teeth can have whitening treatment. However, it is necessary to ensure that there is no caries or decay or old fillings with leaky margins. Teeth with decays and open margins may lead to excessive sensitivity or pain. Therefore it is necessary to get a detailed consultation from your dentist in order to assess the suitability of your teeth for whitening treatment.

Old fillings and crowns will not bleach, but you can change these after whitening treatment to match the adjacent whitened natural tooth.

Some people naturally have teeth which have dense outer layer (enamel) or more strongly pigmented inner layer ( dentin) making them more resistant to absorption of whitening products leading to its less effectiveness. Sometimes age, genetics, congenital diseases and lifestyle habits also effect the final result of whitening treatment.

The in-office teeth whitening treatment is done by a professional,  give far more superior results,  involve less risks and gives faster results. We usually recommend in-office teeth whitening for our patients but at-home bleaching can also be provided upon patient’s request as an alternate option.

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