The Truth about Teeth Whitening: What to Consider Before Bleaching Your Teeth

Teeth whitening treatments are arguably the best marketed dental treatments available; just about everyone has heard of Zoom!, even if they aren’t looking to get their teeth bleached. While there’s plenty of information available about teeth whitening, there’s just as much misinformation.  Below, we help clarify some truths about whitening, so you can get a better understanding of what to look for and expect.

In-Office Teeth Whitening vs. Take-Home Whitening Kits

Many patients believe that in-office, or laser and light-activated teeth bleaching is somehow better than other methods. Whether you should choose the at-home or in-office method depends on why you’re looking to get your teeth bleached and how much time you can give to treatment.

In-office teeth whitening is best for patients who are in a time-crunch – they have a big event coming up and need instant results. While the light used with in-office teeth bleaching helps activate the whitening agent, it does not produce dramatically different results that would lead patients to choose one treatment over the other.

Take-home teeth whitening kits produce the same whitening results, just in a different method.  If you have about two weeks to dedicate to whitening your teeth, you can do so from the comfort of your own home.

Most Patients Will Experience Some Tooth Sensitivity

Even drugstore teeth whitening strips will create tooth sensitivity, but any discomfort can be easily managed with over-the-counter pain medication. Additionally, there are some brands of teeth whitening treatments that tend to produce less sensitivity on average, so it’s important to check with your dentist about what to expect with what they offer.

For Some People, Teeth Whitening May Not Work

Standard whitening treatment is best for patients whose teeth have been stained by food, drink, and even tobacco. But some things that discolor teeth, such as medication, aging, and health problems may not be positively affected by teeth bleaching. In these instances, a treatment like porcelain veneers might be indicated over standard whitening.

Hillcrest Dental Group welcomes patients into their Petaluma cosmetic dental office to learn more about teeth whitening, treatment options, expected outcomes, and alternate treatments. For more information about our whitening procedures, contact Dr. DeBerardinis and her friendly dental team.

Your Cosmetic Dentistry Options

Cosmetic dental treatment isn’t a one-size-fits-all method; there are plenty of procedures that help address overlapping aesthetic concerns, but some are better suited for certain goals than others.

If you feel that your smile could use some improvement, take a look at our list of common issues we hear from patients about their smiles’ appearance.  Our Petaluma cosmetic dentistry office provides patients with as many options as possible, so they get the smile they want.

Gaps between teeth – Minor gapping between teeth, which doesn’t require the intervention of more complex treatment (like braces), can be corrected with cosmetic procedures. Placing veneers or crowns on teeth creates a smile with just the right spacing. When applying crowns and veneers, teeth are buffed slightly to accommodate prosthetics, with the finalized procedure filling out any gaps between treated teeth and neighboring teeth. The number of teeth to be treated and your budget for cosmetic care will determine which route you’d prefer.

Stained or discolored teeth – We help lift or disguise stains on teeth with teeth whitening and porcelain veneers. Our in-office and at-home teeth bleaching systems remove deep-seated stains on your smile caused by coffee drinking, red wine, or other food and drink with heavy pigment. If your teeth have been discolored in way that cannot be corrected with teeth bleaching, we help you get a bright new smile with veneers. We help you pick just the right shade for your veneer treatment so your teeth are as bright as you’d like.

Cracks, chips, and decay – Teeth that are showing signs of wear and tear, or have been affected by decay can be made to look flawless and healthy. We place dental crowns that cover teeth and prevent further cracking or chipping, and stop the spread of decay to healthy teeth. Best of all, our office uses CEREC imaging and milling technology to make your crown right in our office, in under an hour. After getting crowns, your smile will look flawless.

Too-small teeth – Not everyone has teeth that are completely uniform in appearance; you may have one or two teeth that are just slightly smaller than the rest of the teeth in your smile zone, compromising the balance of your smile.  We use porcelain veneers, shells of tooth-colored material, to augment specific teeth in your smile for an even, picture-perfect look.

No matter what issues you’re experiencing with your smile, we have treatments that can help. Contact our office for more information about your cosmetic dentistry options.