Whitening Your Teeth

Our office uses the Opalescence^® System to improve the appearance of mildly to moderately dark stained teeth. It has been used by dentists all over the United States for nearly ten years and is currently the best system available to attain the natural beauty of a bright smile.

You may have heard advertisements on television for systems, which claim to whiten teeth, yet they may actually be harmful to teeth used long term without professional supervision. They are made with chemicals that are commonly available for other uses, so the companies who market them have know their side affects, so we do not recommend their uses.

The system we use Opalescence^®, has received the highest rating from an independent, non-profit organization that researches dental materials. It has been studied extensively for both safety and effectiveness and the dental journal articles that we have studied support these findings. Our own experience with it here in the office makes us very confident about it’s use for most patients. 

Effectiveness

• We recommend you use it on both upper and lower teeth. It you would like to be able to evaluate the results, you may want to do your upper teeth first and compare them to your lower teeth.

• Tooth whitening works well on teeth that have yellowing, brown or grayish tendencies. 

• If you do not have staining habits, the research suggests that you may not feel you need to re-whiten for many years. There is no harm in doing so if you decide you want to. 

• The system will not change the color of  “white” plastics fillings or  “cosmetic bonding”, or “caps” so if you have fillings or caps that are visible in your front teeth, you may want them changes after whitening to match the new, whiter color of your front teeth, Dental work on the back teeth will not be affected by whitening.

• If you have staining due to smoking, coffee, tea or soda habits, these will be improved significantly. However, the continued use of any of these substances will eventually cause the accumulation of the original stain again. Therefore, the whitening may need to be repeated periodically, as often as ever 2 years to maintain the desired results.

Safety

• The research we know of has not identified any adverse effects, either to the mouth or general health due to the chemicals used in the bleaching process. The manufacturer specifies that this product should not be used while pregnant or lactating.

• We will monitor your mouth’s response to the material after one weeks use. You can of course contact us at any time if you have a concern about the bleaching system.

The Process

• The fee for bleaching is  $170 per arch or $290 for the upper and lower.

• When you decide to go ahead with the treatment, we will begin by taking an impression of the arch of the teeth you would like to start with, either the upper or the lower. From this we will fabricate a customized bleaching tray that fits over your teeth like a mouth guard, which is used when playing sports. (Our tray is much thinner and less awkward. You can talk reasonably well with a little practice.

• At your next appointment, we will deliver your tray, seeing that it is fitted properly, and give you all the necessary elements of the bleaching with detailed instructions.

• Basically, you will choose a time of day and night that you can wear the tray filled with the whitening substance. You will wear the tray for 30 minutes, two times daily for 10 days to 2 weeks to get the maximum effect from the system.

• You should keep your bleaching tray after the treatment is completed, as there may be some time in the future that you would like to repeats the process. The tray should fit well, assuming you do not have significant dental changes.

We have attempted to answer most of the common questions and concerns that our patients have routinely expressed about teeth whitening with this bleaching system. If we can help you with any further information, please feel free to let us know.