Category Archives: Teeth Whitening

Teeth Whitening

Stained Dental Bonding

I have some dental bonding that seems to be picking up some stains. Would whitening toothpaste brighten them up? If not, what about professional teeth whitening?

Richard

Dear Richard,

Almost all whitening toothpastes contain abrasives. While those abrasives can make your teeth look whiter, they do so at the cost of damaging the enamel. That in turn causes your teeth to pick up stains more easily practically making you dependent on using their whitening toothpaste.

I do have a solution for you, but before I go into that, let’s talk about your second option. Professional teeth whitening isn’t a good solution either, It does a marvelous job of whitening natural tooth structure. Unfortunately, it only whitens natural tooth structure. Any dental work, such as dental bonding or dental crowns, will remain the same color.

Getting Dental Bonding Whiter

Supersmile Toothpaste

In order to get this dental bonding the way you want it, you will first need to determine the reason behind the staining. If the polish is still on your bonding, then you have surface stains. If the polish isn’t there, you’ve got to have the bonding re-done. You didn’t say how long you had the bonding. They don’t last nearly as long as something like porcelain veneers.

If the polish is still there and you’re dealing with surface stains, there is an easy solution. If you remember, I told you almost all whitening toothpastes use abrasives. The exception to this is Supersmile Toothpaste. Its stain-removing ingredient is Calprox. This enzymatically dissolves the protein pellicle layer that covers your teeth. Stains attach themselves to that pellicle and are removed simultaneously.

This blog is brought to you by the Lafayette, LA Dentists of Camellia Dental.

Teeth Whitening

How Long Should I Whiten?

I whitened my teeth a couple of years ago. Now I’m about to get a dental crown and want to touch the teeth up before having the crown made because they’ve picked up some stains since then. My dentist said he doesn’t know how to advise me so I’m turning to your blog in the hope you can. Here are my questions: 1. How long should I whiten per day and for how many days? 2. Is a waiting period necessary between whitening and getting a crown?

Brooke

Dear Brooke,

teeth whitening trays

I am going to answer your questions. However, first I am going to express concern that your dentist seems unable to do so. As your dentist, he (or she) is actually in a better position to give definitive answers because he knows your dental history.

The fact that he can’t, gives me concern about his ability to create a beautiful looking porcelain crown for you. Most dentists are engineering-minded. They can create a well-fitted, functioning crown but the appearance will be mediocre at best.

My guess is this is a tooth that is visible when you smile. This makes it all the more important to know if your dentist is a skilled, artistic cosmetic dentist.

Basic Teeth Whitening Guidelines

The duration of days will depend on how long it takes you to get to the level of whiteness you want. Teeth will get whiter the longer you use the gel. As for how much per day, it depends. The minimum you should wear your whitening trays, with the gel in them of course, is 20 to 30 minutes. That’s about the amount of time necessary for the ingredients to get into your teeth.

If you’re able, teeth whitening is more effective overnight. This is because our saliva production goes down at night. During the day, saliva gets into the trays and can dilute the gel. However, I would not whiten to the point of tooth sensitivity. You are the best gauge for that.

You will want to wait a week or two between the time you complete your teeth whitening and you have your porcelain crown made. If it is going on a front tooth, wait the two full weeks. If the crown will be more toward the back, one week is sufficient.

This blog is brought to you by the Lafayette Dentists of Camellia Dental.

Teeth Whitening

How white can I get my teeth?

I am trying to figure out how white I can get my teeth. Ideally, I’d like them to match my eyeballs. Is that possible?

Miranda

Dear Miranda,

I love it when I get questions that surprise me. This is one I’ve never encountered. Whether or not your teeth can match your eyeballs really depends upon how white your eyeballs are. There are limits to what teeth whitening can do. Though, you certainly can get them very white.

In general, when a patient is striving to match a certain color, we suggest they have porcelain veneers done. These can be more specifically designed to match certain colors. In addition to color, they can change the shape and size of your teeth as well. It is the go-to procedure that celebrities use to get their Hollywood smiles.

Even when patients do get porcelain veneers we always have them whiten their teeth first, this way if they have a smile that is ten teeth wide but only get six porcelain veneers, the adjacent teeth will blend in with the veneered teeth and not look out of place.

Who Should Do Your Cosmetic Work?

Here’s what I recommend. Start with the teeth whitening. That may be all you need. If you get the level of whitening you want, job done. Any dentist can do teeth whitening, even your family dentist.

If it doesn’t get to the color you want, then you’ll have to decide if you want to get a total smile makeover with porcelain veneers. This does require some rather specific training.

Unfortunately, cosmetic dentistry isn’t a recognized specialty. That makes it hard for patients. Doing smile makeovers isn’t taught in dental school. The dentist has to seek post-doctoral training. The best cosmetic dentists are AACD accredited.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Mike Malone.