What is Teeth Whitening?
Teeth Whitening is one of the major part of Cosmetic Dentistry that has been continually developing and becoming more popular in modern dentistry.
It is a safe dental procedure that can improve stained or discoloured teeth.
There is no doubt that everyone wants to have a beautiful smile and whiter and brighter teeth can help you achieve the beautiful smile you desire.
Although, some extrinsic staining from tea, coffee, red wine, tobacco and tartar may be removed from professional dental cleaning at your dentist, in order to properly change the natural shade of teeth, professional whitening is needed.
Prior to receiving the treatment, you need a proper dental examination to check the conditions of your teeth and gums to make sure you are suitable for teeth whitening. Sometimes teeth whitening does not remove certain stains.
Types of Teeth Whitening
There are 3 types of whitening systems available at Prahran Family Dental.
They are Home Whitening, In Office Whitening and Internal Whitening systems.
Depending on conditions and your circumstances, you can choose the whitening system suitable for you.
Below are the 3 types of whitening systems that may be suitable for you.
Home Whitening
It requires an impression of your teeth taken for fabrication of the custom fit whitening trays to be made at our dental laboratory. It usually requires consistent daily application of the mild whitening gel over 2 weeks or more to see the preferable results. Good thing about home whitening is that you can control the brightness as you whiten yourself at home. Literally, you can stop once you reach the desired teeth shade.
In Office Whitening
It can take as little as an hour at our dental clinic to receive this treatment.
We use Philips Zoom Whitening system at our practice and it is the one of the best products available. It can enlighten up to 8 shades lighter.
After proper teeth isolation from the gums, more intense bleaching gel is applied on the teeth which gets activated by a high intensity light. As the high concentration is applied to get the whitening done in the shortest amount of time, unfortunately you cannot control the brightness of your teeth.
Internal Whitening
This bleaching system applies only for the teeth that received root canal therapy. After root canal therapy, the tooth loses vitality and discolours with time. After the initial consultation with your dentist, the bleaching powder together with a liquid solution is placed inside the tooth. This may take several visits to maximize the bleaching and once the results are confirmed, it can then be filled with a suitable dental fillings to cover the opening.
It is usually a front tooth that needs an internal whitening done as back teeth are usually crowned or restored heavily which ends up covering the majority of the discolouration from root canal treatment.
Any Complications?
Other than internal whitening, both home whitening and in office whitening will cause temporary teeth sensitivity and gum irrigation. Instructions will be given by your dentist to how to manage this post operative sensitivity.
Special desensitizing gel and special toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth may be used to manage this sensitivity.
Results may vary depending on each case.
Please be mindful that any existing dental work that are present on the teeth prior to teeth whitening will not change in colour or shade. (eg: crowns, veneers, fillings etc)
