Teeth Whitening

Most patients are good candidates for teeth whitening, otherwise known as the bleaching of the teeth. It's a very safe process, which takes about an hour and a half in the office. Patients that are the best candidates are those that have had stains on their teeth or notice that their smile has discolored over the years of their life either through their diet, coffee, tea, sometimes smoking can always cause your teeth to darken over the years. We'll usually notice results of teeth whitening at the end of that first visit. It's anywhere from one to four cycles of about 15 minutes per cycle, where we bleach your teeth and we protect the gums by doing so. There are a couple of types of different stains that can develop on patients' teeth. One is called extrinsic staining or staining of the enamel rods of your teeth, which can be enhanced by the dental bleaching, usually in a single visit. We also give take-home bleaching trays in order to touch up and further whiten your teeth and to maintain the bleached smile. Another type of staining that exists for patients is something called intrinsic staining, where the stains are deeply embedded within the structure of the tooth. Those oftentimes cannot be bleached, in which case those candidates are better off having dental veneers.