Teeth Whitening

It was a great photo. You were caught in the middle of a “full-on” laugh. Then you noticed old silver-colored amalgam fillings and realized that your entire dental history is on display! No need to be self-conscious any longer. There is a simple and attractive solution.

White composite resin fillings are more natural looking than amalgam, and have the added advantage of never discoloring surrounding or neighboring teeth as older amalgam fillings have been known to do. Modern materials and processes ensure that they are also durable, reliable, and predictable. The color can be precisely matched to your own teeth too, making it virtually invisible to others. That’s why the demand for tooth-colored fillings has surpassed amalgam by a ratio of more than 3:1.

Let’s talk about how composite fillings can help you smile more. It can usually be done in only one visit or two, and because your silver-colored fillings could be upwards of a couple decades old and compromised because of it, your insurer may cover replacement costs.

Be laugh-out-loud confident … whether you’re in front of, or behind, the camera! Call us today!

Stain solutions that save smiles

Although there are many different stain removers available, most of the over-the-counter products are a disappointment. Some products simply won’t work while others offer just a temporary solution.

Strong discoloring agents like coffee, tea, and tobacco cause surface stains. If you want to remove them, a professional polishing with a coarse but gentle cleaning paste will do the trick. Complemented by regular brushing and flossing, this technique will ensure your smile shines brighter longer!

Some stains are harder to remove because they are trapped in tiny fractures or micro-cracks in the tooth surface. The only way to beat these stains is with professional whitening or bonding, a tooth-colored treatment that fills in and covers micro-cracks.

Even darker surface stains are caused by dark plaque and tartar buildup in areas around the gumline, often on the lower front teeth. In-office dental scaling and polishing will assist in removing these difficult stains.

The toughest tooth stains are the kinds that become part of the tooth structure. Bright white splotches or brownish gray bands can be caused by health and dietary problems when the tooth is forming before birth or by tetracycline treatment. You can also develop deep stains from decay and from old fillings.

Only professional whitening and masking techniques will revive smiles that have been dulled by the very toughest of tooth stains. Call us today if you’d like to know more about revitalizing your smile.

Smile again with teeth whitening

Your pearly whites are constantly under attack by materials that can cause them to discolor and develop stains. As a result of the food we eat, tobacco smoke, tea and coffee, root canal treatments, prescription drugs, and even normal aging, many of us have teeth that are stained and discolored.

The good news is that teeth whitening can give your smile a second chance. Whitening can remove many stains and discolorations quickly and without any discomfort.

There are two main types of cosmetic whitening. Non-vital whitening is usually best for teeth that turn dark because of root canal treatment. Non-vital whitening lightens the tooth from the inside out. Vital whitening is used for most other forms of discoloration, and you may be asked to wear a custom-fitted mouthguard filled with whitening solution for a certain amount of time each day in the convenience of your home, or you may get a whitening solution to mix with your toothpaste. All vital whitening techniques are comfortable and less costly than bonding or crowns. We may ask you to come in for a touch-up reapplication once or twice a year.

If stains and discolorations are causing your smile to turn into a frown, talk to us about whitening during your next dental appointment.

With brighter teeth!

Sometimes no matter how diligently you brush, you just can’t seem to brighten that dullness in your smile. Your smile could be suffering from stain or discoloration. Teeth can darken for a number of reasons, and the most common is the natural tooth-yellowing effect of aging. You can also get tooth stains from drinking coffee, tea, or colas. A blow to the mouth, old fillings, tetracycline antibiotic treatment, or too much fluoride can also leave your teeth looking less than their best.

Whitening techniques have been around a long time, but one product called Nite White® is a vast improvement over some of the other techniques. It’s safe and the results are predictable.

A mild whitening gel is applied directly to your teeth in a special custom-fitted tray you wear while you sleep. The active ingredient allows oxygen to penetrate the protective covering on your teeth and whiten the colored substances that are darkening your smile. You’ll see results when you wake up on the third day, and depending on how dark your stain is, we may recommend you use Nite White for up to fourteen applications.

If you think your smile is a good candidate for some brightening up, make an appointment. After a thorough oral examination, we’ll be able to make a diagnosis and design a whitening treatment that will get your smile the brightest it can be.

Know the facts

Believe it or not, people have been whitening their teeth for more than one hundred years. If it’s done right, whitening can be a safe, inexpensive, and dramatic way to whiten your smile. If you’re thinking of whitening your teeth at home using a kit ordered from a TV infomercial or purchased from the drug store, make sure that you understand the risks!

No one can guarantee the results of whitening. But one thing is certain – we’re up-to-date on all the latest agents and techniques. We have better ways to control the effects and can do the job faster and more effectively.

The tooth whitening products advertised on TV work in much the same way as our whitening products. They use hydrogen peroxide to bleach out stains on your tooth enamel, but that’s where the similarities end. The amount of hydrogen peroxide varies with every brand so that the results you get will depend on how bad your staining is, where it is, the time required, and the peroxide concentration in your brand. In other words, the results are not nearly as predictable as products from our office.

If you are considering tooth whitening, give us a call or talk to us during your next visit. We can make a recommendation on the best product to brighten your smile.

For a more dazzling you!

You might as well face it – that bright, dazzling smile you had just a few years ago might not have come with a lifetime guarantee. Coffee, tea, nicotine, and even certain antibiotics all contribute to the dulling down of our teeth. But those stains and discoloration don’t have to be a lifetime sentence for your smile.

Our practice is pleased to offer at-home whitening. It’s an easy, convenient, safe, and personalized approach to improving the quality of your smile. It can be used day or night for as few as one to two hours at a time.

The active whitening ingredient has been proven safe and effective in many clinical trials. We’ll prescribe the proper strength of gel for your particular whitening needs and insure that the treatment will be completely customized to your schedule.

Here’s how it works. You place the whitening gel in a custom fitted tray we’ve made especially for you. Then you place the tray over your teeth and wear it for the prescribed time – most people use it at night when they sleep. As the whitening gel dissolves, oxygen enters the enamel and dentin portion of your teeth, lightening stains. Results are usually seen within the first week.

Please call us for a consultation if your smile needs a little rejuvenation. We can make it dazzle again!

Helping you amplify your smile

If you’re thinking about rejuvenating your smile with whitening, let us save you the disappointment of experimenting with store products that don’t work or that offer only short and temporary results. Let’s take some time to discuss professional supervised options with you – whitening solutions that are both safe and effective … and that can meet your expectations to amplify your unique smile!

Safe teeth whitening either in our office or at home on your own time over a few days or a few weeks can whiten accumulated surface stains created by everyday eating and drinking, meet the challenge of stains trapped in micro-cracks in tooth surfaces, and remove stains within the tooth structure caused by illness or medication.

Why the emphasis on dentist-supervised teeth whitening – even at home? As dental professionals, helping people look their best brings with it a responsibility to ensure that results are achieved in a safe, reliable, and effective way.

To complete the whitening process, we can also replace conspicuous older silver-colored fillings with contemporary tooth-colored composite fillings that are cost-effective, long-lasting, durable, and – no contest – better looking than silver-colored fillings!

Please call us. Every smile is unique and every whitening solution is best suited to a individual patients and a particular purpose. We’re always happy to discuss the best choice for you!

Loveable staining agents that do harm

In our practice, we often replace the unattractive undesirable tooth stains associated with red wine and coffee with a white-as-new smile. But there’s more to these popular beverages than meets the eye.

The virtues of red wine have been extolled forever. Contemporary journalists have reported that the polyphenols present in wine have a positive effect on everything from heart disease to ulcers, cancer, stroke, and stress.

Coffee, once maligned as a stress-inducer, appears to be on the comeback trail. Scientists now suggest that the antioxidants and complex compounds in coffee may combat cirrhosis of the liver, colon cancer, asthma, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and even suicidal tendencies. But both wine and coffee contain substances that are potentially damaging when taken excessively. And both can stain your teeth – even when enjoyed in small amounts over time. Wine and coffee are not the only culprits… Medications, aging, and tobacco use can all contribute to discoloration.

Fortunately, stains that dull your teeth can be removed in only one in-office hour or over a few days … with professionally supervised whitening treatments. We’d be happy to recommend the product and the procedure that best fits your needs and lifestyle.

Call us for a consultation and say goodbye to stains and hello to a beautiful radiant smile!

Immediate teeth whitening results

If stains and discoloration are causing you to give your teeth a second glance, cosmetic dentistry can give your smile a second chance! Whitening can remove many of the day-to-day stains acquired from coffee, tea, wine, or smoking. Even teeth that have lost their sheen to fluorosis, root canal treatments, or tetracycline can now be lightened.

In one study, the darkest teeth showed the greatest whitening effect. Modern whitening techniques are so successful that the demand for the procedure has increased by over 300% in five years. We know how important your wonderful smile is to your lifestyle, your self-esteem, even your professional success.

We’re happy to offer a professional dentist-supervised whitening system. We believe it is the best and most convenient whitening treatment there is! It’s safe, effective, and fast and your teeth will be dramatically whiter.

Come and see us for a consultation and we’ll make sure your smile is as bright and happy as it can be!

Looking inside the matter

There’s new hope for stained and discolored teeth. Most people know that for teeth that have lost their brightness due to smoking and consuming tooth-staining foods like berries, red wine, coffee, and tea, they can have their teeth whitened in the convenience of their home using our take-home kit. This is called extrinsic staining because the cause is external – from the outside of the tooth. But what many people don’t know is that we have the means right here at our practice to whiten teeth that have been discolored because of intrinsic influences – those that affect the tooth color from inside. We call this technique “deep bleaching.”

What would discolor a tooth from the inside? Fluorosis is caused by excessive intake of fluorine (fluoride) while teeth were developing, characterized by brown pigmentation or enamel that is flat gray or that has white mottling or spots. Root canal treatment in which diseased pulp from inside a tooth is removed and the cavity is filled, can be characterized by dark discoloration. Medicines such as Tetracycline will cause discoloration on many levels from light yellow to brown or gray, often with “banding.”

Most of us have smiles that could use a whitening boost. If you’re one, no matter the origin of discoloration, call us! We will help you choose which whitening technique is best for you.

Be careful of the whitener paste trap

There are many new toothpastes on the market that promise to make your teeth brighter and whiter. These pastes either bleach the tooth itself or remove stains with abrasion or acid etching. If you use one of these, make sure you don’t fall into the whitener paste trap.

When you first use a whitener, you may think your teeth are getting whiter because the toothpaste is removing stains. But you’re really removing more than that – your enamel!

The outside shell on your teeth is pretty clear. It’s the supportive tissue that lies just underneath – the dentin – that is yellow in color. As the outside enamel gets thinner, the dentin shows through more and more. Since the dentin is yellow, your teeth will eventually appear yellowed.

If you use a whitening paste to remove surface stains once in a while, you’re all right. But if you use it every day and scrub and polish the enamel away, your teeth may actually end up looking yellowed!

The best route to whiter teeth is a call to us! After cleaning we use a powerful but safe cleaning paste that will get your teeth as white as they’ll ever be from brushing. If your teeth still aren’t as white as you would like, a professional whitening just may do the trick. Ask us about it!

We can help you decide what option is best for you!

Convenient, reliable teeth whitening can dramatically improve your smile. That’s why more than ten million North Americans will get their teeth whitened this year. Here are the answers to some common questions you may have about this popular procedure.

What is teeth whitening? It is a procedure designed to remove stains and discoloration and lighten teeth pigmentation. Teeth whitening can be done safely, quickly, reliably and with predictability with our supervision.

Are teeth whitening procedures safe? Absolutely. After more than 100 years of refinement and improvement, supervised whitening is a common procedure. Some individuals may experience mild temporary tooth sensitivity.

How white can I expect my teeth to look? Whiteness depends on the degree of discoloration. Most people can expect to bump up a few shades; some people with very stained teeth can brighten up to eight. We’ll help you decide on the best level that’s most natural for your skin tone and smile.

Is there such a thing as being too young or too old for whitening? After childhood, age is not a factor and most people can benefit from whitening.

We can help you decide on your best whitening option. Give us a call!