Take-home tooth whitening can improve the appearance of darkened teeth and remove superficial staining. For many of our patients it’s a simple and effective way to enhance the natural beauty of your own teeth.
Suitability
Tooth whitening may not be suitable if:
- You have many older restorations (dental fillings) especially in your front teeth – whitening won’t change the colour of fillings or existing crowns and veneers. You may require replacements of some fillings to obtain a more even aesthetic effect
- You have gum disease
- There are exposed root surfaces
- Your teeth are naturally sensitive – although this can be successfully managed
- The reason for discolouration is that you have cavities in your teeth
Tooth whitening works best on clean teeth, so having a professional prophylaxis (scaling, cleaning and polishing teeth) before whitening is a good idea.
If you decided to go ahead with whitening, we recommend take–home tooth whitening.
Take-Home Whitening
Take-Home tooth whitening causes much less sensitivity than in–office whitening, there’s less expense and it works just the same. Take–Home tooth whitening takes about 30 minutes a day over two weeks (or more for some people). You can do it while you’re sleeping, walking, reading or watching tv (I even saw someone today whitening whilst driving!!).
It offers significantly more control over the process of whitening your teeth – you can stop when and if you want, to any time. For some people, I recommend whitening lower teeth separately form upper teeth (lower teeth first). The reason for this is that some discoloured natural teeth have many different patches of colour present. If these patches whiten at different rates (or some not at all), even though your teeth end up being lighter, they may look worse. If you only whiten your lower teeth, you can monitor and control the effect yourself by comparing upper teeth to lower teeth, to make sure you’re happy with the results.
Take–Home tooth whitening uses a gel bleach and a set of small flexible mouth-guards or ‘trays’. The tray stops the gel form irritating soft tissue in your mouth and throat (that’s why whitening gels from the chemist applied directly to teeth are not such a great idea). The trays also contain the gel so it works more effectively: this improves the efficiency and decreases the cost of the process.
Book your dental appointment at Dr Patrick J Meaney & Associates
Providing high-quality dental care, we specialise in your oral health. Using advanced dental technologies to service your dental needs, our comfortable office, friendly staff and central location service people from all over the Southern Highlands, including Bowral, Mittagong and of course Moss Vale.
Call my team today on (02) 4869 3111 or request an appointment after hours using our online form.
– Dr. Patrick J Meaney
