Improve the Color of Your Teeth with Teeth Whitening Treatments

Teeth whitening treatments can get you noticeably whiter teeth in less than an hour. They are one of the most popular cosmetic treatments and involve using compounds with bleaching properties like hydrogen carbamide or hydrogen peroxide to take off stains from the outer and inner layers of your teeth.

Getting a whiter smile with teeth whitening treatments

There are numerous ways to go about improving the color of teeth with teeth whitening treatments. Whitening products are available in drug and grocery stores, but they provide the least effective way to whiten teeth. More concentrated whitening products are more likely to lead to complications like the product burning soft tissues, so they have to be provided by a dentist who has thoroughly evaluated the patient.

Professional whitening treatments are viewed as the most effective way to whiten teeth with improvements of up to eight shades after a single session. The most concentrated bleaching products available are used for these treatments and a custom mouth tray is used for multiple reasons such as keeping the patient’s teeth covered with the whitening product and preventing said product from making contact with gum tissues, burning or irritating them. Lasers are sometimes used as part of professional whitening treatments to speed up the process.

Teeth whitening treatments are effective on stains caused by the tannins – coloring agents – in beverages/foods, habits like smoking, and overexposure to fluoride. These treatments do not affect dental restorations like veneers and crowns, so the targeted color should be close to the color of any restorations the patient has if they do not plan on replacing them.

The ideal shade

Before starting teeth whitening treatments, the dentist will mark the color of the patient’s teeth and help to determine an ideal shade of white that should be targeted. For most people, a few shades lighter than the white of their eyes is the ideal shade of white. This ensures the new color of their teeth after whitening treatments look natural.

Once a targeted shade of white has been determined, the dentist will ask the patient to bite down on a mold that leaves an impression of their teeth. The mold is sent to a laboratory where oral appliances are made. The finished mouth tray should get back to the dentist in a few weeks.

The product is poured into the mouth tray and the patient bites down on it. They keep it in place for 60 to 90 minutes as it lifts stains and discoloration away. A single in-office whitening session gets many patients to their desired shade of white, while others might follow-up sessions. The most common side-effect associated with teeth whitening treatments is increased teeth sensitivity that goes away in about 48 hours.