A Good Candidate for Professional Teeth Whitening

There are many reasons that a person’s teeth lose their brilliant white coloration. For example, age, natural coloration, diet, smoking, and even some medications can all lead a tooth to become discolored. Additionally, trauma and disease can also discolor the teeth and gums as well.

This is the reason that teeth whitening is one of the most frequently sought after treatments available from a cosmetic dentist. In fact, the essential step of almost any smile makeover tends to be a teeth whitening treatment, but this isn’t done in only one single manner. For example, there are in-office procedures, but a patient might also be able to use a take home system as well.

Which is the best? It usually depends upon the level of discoloration, the reasoning that it has occurred, and the speed with which the patient wants their smile makeover completed.

Let’s just use a very typical example of an ideal candidate for teeth whitening--the heavy smoker. The nicotine in cigarettes discolors the fingertips, the teeth and the gums. It can even cause gums to recede, and this means that a cosmetic dentist is going to be a mandatory provider for teeth whitening. If the patient hasn’t any other reason for serious discoloration, the dentist is likely to use an in-office treatment to remove the heavy staining.

This means that some sort of gum protection will be put in place and that the stronger peroxide material will be used on the teeth. Generally the dentist will leave the bleaching agent in place for around twenty minutes before checking the results. If there is little lightening, then the process will be repeated and can take up to a full hour to be done.

Before beginning the teeth whitening, the dentist is likely to warn a patient if they can expect any discomfort due to the condition of their teeth and gums, but generally most people only experience brief sensations.