Teeth whitening is designed to lighten the color of your teeth. Significant lightening can be achieved in the vast majority of cases, but the results cannot be guaranteed. When done properly the whitening will not harm your teeth or gums. However, like any other treatment it has some inherent risks and limitations. These are seldom serious enough to discourage you from having your teeth bleached, but should be considered when deciding to have the treatment.

II. CANDIDATES FOR TEETH WHITENING

Just about anyone is a candidate for teeth whitening. However, people with dark yellow or yellow-brown teeth tend to whiten better than people with gray or bluish-gray teeth. Multi-colored teeth, especially if stained due to tetracycline, do not whiten very well. Teeth with many fillings, cavities, chips, etc., are usually best treated by bonding, porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns.

III. ONE-HOUR WHITENING

This process may be done in one visit or may require multiple visits depending on how your teeth respond to the whitening gel. Each appointment takes about one hour. Gum protection is applied, the whitening gel is applied and a special light is used to further enhance the bleach.

The advantages of power whitening include our doing all the work for you and in less time than you would spend home bleaching your teeth. The disadvantages include the normal inconveniences of any dental treatment such as having to keep your mouth open for the duration of the appointment and the possibility of increased costs as compared to home whitening.

IV. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

A. TOOTH SENSITIVITY

During the first 24 hours following whitening, some patients experience transient sensitivity. This sensitivity is usually mild if your teeth are not normally sensitive. With power whitening, this sensitivity will usually subside in 1-2 days.

However, if your teeth are normally sensitive, whitening may make your teeth more sensitive for an extended period of time. Under these circumstances, you may choose to delay the whitening process until we are able to complete desensitization procedures.

If your teeth are sensitive after whitening, a mild analgesic such as Tylenol or Advil will usually be effective in making you more comfortable until your teeth return to normal.

B. GUM IRRITATION

This is the result of a small amount of solution leaking under the dental dam. A burning sensation on your gums may also occur. This will resolve itself in a few hours or couple of days.

IV. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS CONTINUED
C. EFFECT ON FILLINGS

Be aware that tooth colored fillings will not whiten. If the filling matches your current color, bleaching will result in mis-matched shades with your natural teeth. You may need to have your fillings replaced so that they will match your newly whitened teeth.

D. PHOTO SENSITIVITY

Even so a rare event, some patients may develop a lip and/or tissue blister, herpes simplex, fever blisters due to their hypersensitivity to sunlight. The blister will subside between 1-2 days, with no additional recourse.

V. COMPLETION OF TREATMENT

A. LEVEL OF WHITENING

There is no totally reliable way to predict how light your teeth will whiten. With power whitening, one session usually significantly whitens your teeth. Some patients require an additional session.

B. RELAPSE

After any bleaching treatment, patients should avoid (chromagenic agents) foods that stain, such as tobacco, coffee, tea, mustard, ketchup, root beer, dark grape juice, raspberries and red wine and similar heavy staining substances for about 48 hours after the bleaching procedure. Keeping teeth clean with flossing and brushing can maintain whiteness.

Following completion of whitening, pigments found in food and drinks will re-stain your teeth, commonly called “bleaching relapse.” To help prevent relapse, use daily over-the-counter toothpaste, Rembrandt® Plus™. Tooth bleaching lasts, on average, about 1-3 years. If you are not a regular tobacco user, and do not eat many foods that are known to stain teeth, bleaching may last even longer.