Teeth Whitening

While whitening toothpastes & drugstore kits can help keep your teeth bright, teeth whitening from a dentist will make the fastest & most significant difference in your smile. Because we are authorised to use a more powerful form of peroxide, we can make your teeth several shades whiter in around an hour! If you have a formal occasion around the corner & don’t have time to wait for a shinier smile, our in-clinic whitening is a great option.

Not all patients are candidates for in-clinic teeth whitening. If you have been diagnosed with gum disease or have sensitive teeth, the stronger peroxides used in the dental clinic can aggravate your condition. You may be better off with a custom take-home whitening kit that is designed to avoid contact with your gums & has a lower concentration of peroxide.

Whitening is not effective for all people. Patients with crowns, veneers & bonded teeth cannot have those restorations whitened. Likewise, teeth stained brown or gray are much less likely to respond well to whitening than those with yellow teeth. In these cases, veneers or crowns can be a good alternative to whitening.

• The first step of a professional teeth whitening appointment is recording your pretreatment teeth colour. This will help you see just how effective your whitening is.
• Next, the dentist needs to protect your lips, tongue & gums from the whitening agent. The concentrated whitening chemicals available to dentists are more likely to irritate or damage these body parts if they come into direct contact with them. For their protection, your gums will be covered with a rubber dam or a liquid that hardens & can be removed later. The dentist will also insert a cheek retractor, which spreads your lips apart in order to expose your teeth & distance them from your lips & cheeks.
• Once the soft tissues of your mouth & face are protected, the peroxide whitening gel is applied to your teeth. We will do this in a few 15- to 30-minute cycles & check the progress between each application. The entire appointment lasts approximately an hour to an hour & a half.
• When the dentist is finished, they will note your post-treatment tooth colour & determine how many shades it changed. If necessary, you will receive a set of take-home whitening trays to maintain the colour of your new smile.

You may notice your teeth losing some of their whiteness a couple days after an in-clinic teeth whitening. This is a normal reaction. The colour change happens as your teeth recover from dehydration during the whitening process.

If you have tried over-the-counter whitening kits & been disappointed, you will have better results with one of our custom whitening trays. Our trays are made from impressions of your teeth, so they fit comfortably & securely. Since they are made to fit your mouth, they can also cover all the spots store-bought whitening kits tend to miss. Over-the-counter products also tend to leak whitening gel & rub against your gums, causing gum irritation or pain.

Not everyone can benefit from our take-home teeth whitening. Some stains can’t be fixed with whitening gel. For example, discolouration from a root canal cannot be whitened because it starts inside of the tooth rather than on the outer enamel. Stains on crowns, veneers or bonded teeth will not respond to whitening treatments. New crowns & veneers are an alternative option for teeth that cannot be whitened with peroxide.

• We will use a special kind of putty to make a mold of your teeth.
• A dental lab will use these impressions to make your plastic trays, which are flexible & designed to slide over your teeth.
• When your tray is ready, the dentist will choose a peroxide whitening gel that best fits your needs. There are different strengths of whitening gel available. Stronger gels can yield quicker results but are more likely to cause side effects, including sensitive teeth & gum irritation.
• The rest of the process is in your hands. You will need to squirt the gel into the trays & wear them for around two to four hours every day. The dentist can advise you on the right amount of time for you.
• This treatment normally lasts for two to four weeks. In most cases, you should notice whiter teeth within the first two weeks. If you notice any side effects, including tooth sensitivity & irritated or painful gums, stop your treatment & call us right away.