How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
Salem, OR
 Your smile is an important feature. It has the power to say a lot about you, even before you ever have a chance to say anything. Discoloration can significantly impact your confidence, which can cause you to hide your smile at all costs. Actions, like smiling behind your hand, giving tight-lipped grins, or refusing to smile at all, can also affect how others see you, whether you know it or not. At Fairmount Dental Center, we can restore the brilliance of your smile with teeth whitening.
What is Teeth Whitening?
Your tooth enamel is naturally bright white in color. However, it can easily collect pigments and stains that can quickly lead to discoloration. Discoloration can be caused by the foods and beverages you consume, tobacco products, and certain types of medications. Even your age can play a role. When your teeth are discolored, your smile is significantly dulled. Teeth whitening is a cosmetic procedure that is performed to eliminate these stains from your teeth, restoring their bright natural beauty, enhancing your smile and giving you back your confidence.
How Teeth Whitening Works
We offer whitening trays to help you restore the beauty of your smile. First, we create custom trays for your teeth, which are made from impressions of your mouth. This ensures a proper fit so that your whitening treatment can provide you with the best possible results. We provide you with the trays as well as the whitening gel.
The whitening gel, which sits on the surfaces of your teeth, contains an ingredient that helps to open up the pores in your enamel. The active ingredient in the whitening gel is a peroxide ingredient, either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. This ingredient begins to break down while on your teeth. The peroxide forms small oxygen bubbles that enter into the enamel and the dentin layers. These bubbles attach to stains and break them down, effectively eliminating them.
With whitening trays, you wear them for a few hours twice a day or overnight while you sleep. Treatment can last anywhere from one to two weeks, or as long as a month. This all depends on your situation and the type of results you are looking to achieve. We can help you to determine the treatment plan that will provide you with the best possible results.
Is Teeth Whitening Safe?
Many patients wonder about the safety of professional whitening treatments. They are very safe. We provide you with a whitening gel that will help you to achieve the results you are looking for while minimizing the risk of gum irritation. The trays are also designed to help keep the gel on your teeth and away from your gum tissue. You may experience some tooth sensitivity while undergoing your whitening treatment. This sensitivity is normal and is only temporary. In most cases, a sensitivity toothpaste can help to alleviate the symptoms you experience. After you have completed your whitening treatment, the sensitivity should disappear.
If you are interested in learning more about teeth whitening, and just how we can help to brighten your smile, call Fairmount Dental Center at (503) 362-8364 today. |
