A teeth whitening treatment is a popular option for enhancing and improving the beauty of a person’s smile, and a professional, in-office dental teeth whitening treatment is the safest and most effective option. While teeth whitening can address some teeth appearance issues, it’s not suitable treatment for everyone, so it’s important to know who makes the best candidates.
Professional teeth whitening procedure
During in-office teeth whitening, the dentist supervises to ensure its safety and prevent exposing the gums to the whitening agent. The dental professional applies a bleaching agent carefully to the patient’s teeth and then uses a laser light on the teeth to activate the full whitening strength. Dentists can brighten a smile up to eight shades in a single teeth whitening treatment.
Removing discoloration and surface stains
In-office teeth whitening treatments address stains on the surface of the teeth, on the enamel and dentin layers. The causes of these surface stains can include drinking dark beverages such as coffee, tea or red wine, eating foods such as blueberries, using tobacco products and natural aging.
Good candidates for teeth whitening
The best candidates for professional teeth whitening have good overall dental health but would like to remove tooth stains and general discoloration from the surface of their teeth. They need to have realistic expectations of what teeth whitening can accomplish and understand the possible temporary side effects such as sensitivity.
Poor candidates for teeth whitening
When a patient has tooth discoloration from tooth damage or decay, teeth whitening isn’t a good treatment. Such dental issues need to be treated before teeth whitening can be used effectively. Patients with tooth discoloration that comes from inside the tooth and not on the surface aren’t good candidates for teeth whitening as the bleaching agent only treats stains on dentin and enamel.
When teeth whitening isn’t an option
For patients with stains that are too severe for teeth whitening to treat, there are other options such as porcelain veneers. Veneers are shells that go over teeth to conceal dental flaws such as staining. When decay or injury cause dental stains, good treatment options include restorations such as a dental crown or inlay or onlay to restore the health and appearance of teeth.
The best way to know if you’re a good candidate for professional teeth whitening is to schedule a consultation with an experienced cosmetic dentist. Contact Dupont Dental to learn more about teeth whitening and make an informed decision about improving the health and appearance of your smile.
