Teeth Whitening
Professional Teeth Whitening
In one visit, you can have a beautiful and bright smile with our teeth whitening treatment. We can reverse the effects of coffee and soda stains, tobacco use, aging, poor hygiene habits, and medications that may have discolored your teeth. We also offer prescribed take home kits if your busy schedule does not allow you to come in right away but you want to have a stunning smile before that next party, reunion, or set of family pictures.
Why Not Use Store Bought Whitening Products?
Store-bought whitening treatments vs professional whitening prescribed by a dentist - The good and the bad:
Store-bought whitening treatments can work if you are willing to buy the top of the line products, however there is one important drawback; whitening strips only whiten the parts of the teeth that they touch. This means that if your teeth are crooked, even slightly, the whiteness will not be uniform across your smile and there may even be striping where the whitening strip did not contact the teeth. Moreover, whitening strips only whiten the front teeth so when you are at your happiest and your smile is big and full, your back teeth will not have the same color.
Professional treatments work for all teeth and all smiles in one visit to the office. Two visits are sometimes needed for rare cases when the teeth are very discolored.
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
Whitening procedures have effectively restored the smile of people with stained, dull, or discolored teeth.
The darker tissue of your teeth, the dentin, can become exposed as the outer layer of enamel is worn away by the effects of aging or things like caffeine and tobacco.
Food particles are naturally attracted to a tooth's enamel by a certain protein. Products like coffee and tea, berries and soy sauce are notorious for staining teeth. Over time, teeth actually become more absorbent and vulnerable to staining from food and other substances.
One type of stain—caused by traumatic injuries, medications and fluorosis—actually begins inside the tooth; brushing and flossing don’t help. Another type of stain—one that can be more easily attacked by brushing, flossing and rinsing—is caused by external factors such as foods.
Some commercially available "whitening toothpastes" can be somewhat effective at removing stains and making teeth a few shades brighter. However, many of these products have abrasive substances that can actually wear away your teeth's enamel.
Whitening agents actually change the color of your teeth, but only are effective on certain types of stains. For example, bleaching agents have a difficult time removing brownish or grayish stains. These products also are not as effective on pitted or badly discolored teeth, or on restorations such as crowns, bridges, bonding and tooth-colored fillings (porcelain veneers or dental bonding may be more appropriate in this case). Professional whitening performed by our office is considered to be the most effective and safest method; done properly, tooth whitening can last as long as five years. If you have any further questions about teeth whitening, please call our Roseville, CA office.
