Teeth Whitening

When someone meets a new person, it takes only several brief moments to create an impression of the person and that impression is giong to last for a very long time. This works on a subconscious level and we are not necessarily able to understand it, but all of the sudden we may feel attracted or distracted to our new aquitance without no good explanation! This is because our first impression of the person is affected by many tiny invisible details. Such as the way that person dresses and behaves, that person’s manners, confidence, speech and smile. If this chance is missed then the person may never have another opportunity to make a good impression. This is why we all want to look good and not just good – we want to look our best, always!

While Your Family Dentist team does not aim to evaluate or improve your speech or manners it certainly can boost your confidence by whitening your teeth and making your smile to stand out. With whiter teeth you will deliver to other people a message of a healthy, confident and energetic person.

What is the teeth whitening? The teeth whitening procedure (sometimes called teeth bleaching) consists of two different processes that enhance the color of the teeth. The first stage is removal of the stains that stay on the surface of the teeth. By scrubbing and mechanically removing plaque and stains from the teeth we enable the tooth to show it’s original color. After that we have to use a different approach and apply our current knowledge of the tooth structure. The tooth enamel forms long before the tooth is erupted. It’s being formed by the cells that lay out a cristalline hard enamel matter. Those cells disappear later from the surface of the tooth, but their extensions and some other natural organic fibers that has a yellow and brown coloration remains trapped in between those hard crystals of the tooth enamel. That organic matter (about less than 1% of the enamel) attributes to the color of the person’s teeth. By applying the teeth whitening gel we can discolor that matter and make the tooth appear much whiter. The whitening gel does not affect the crystaline structure of the tooth and thus has no effect on the tooth strength. It’s only job is to whiten the organic fibers.

How effective can the treatment be? Well, the chemical whitening can work on all teeth and will give a result on even very dark teeth. In fact, teeth whitening is used in those hard cases of tetracyclin staining and enamel fluorosis. The tetracycline staining is considered to be the toughest case for the whitening and may need additional treatment such as porcelain crowns or porcelain veneers if the ideal outcome is mandatory. Success in tetracyclin stain whitening is greatly dependent on the whitening system effectiveness.

Can the teeth look “too white” or “fake” after the procedure? This is the question that we hear fairly often. The answer is “no”, your natural teeth will never look “fake”. Those fake looking white teeth are the result of improperly done crowns or veneers.

Will whitening damage my teeth? That’s another winner question. The answer is also “no” if the process is done properly.

Will whitening work on fillings, crowns, veneers or dentures? No, it will not even a bit. The color of the dental restorative materials is not affected by the process.

Will my teeth become sensitive? Yes and no. While the sensitivity level varies from person to person, most people will feel some degree of sensitivity. Most or all of the sensitivity will be gone after brief period of time.

At Your Family Dentist we use a Kor Whitening system that we believe delivers the best results in whitening. We chose that system for their attention to details. The nature of the whitening gel is such that it slowly degrades with time (think of your laundry bleaching solution becoming less effective as the time passes by) and it may be destroyed immediately by light and heat (think of your laundy bleaching solution that was left in sun). So it gets destroyed with freezing. It’s a very sensitive thing. Kor Whitening system is ordered for each case and being shipped from the factory in a styrofoam container filled with cold packs. This ensures that the gel that we use on your teeth is really working.

Call Your Family Dentist now at +1(703)385-1617 to schedule your consultation today.