Teeth Whitening

Do you want whiter teeth?

Our professional home whitening products, care and follow-up will help you get the best results. It is easy to do! Time and time again patients are delighted with how fast it works and how bright their teeth get. We love the comments on how much better our patients feel about themselves and how they are finally comfortable laughing and smiling again.

What is involved?

At the first appointment, we will take impressions of your teeth. In one week your custom whitening trays will be ready. We provide you with a professional whitening agent that you put into the clear trays. Wear the trays for 30 minutes up to twice per day. Our special bleaching agent removes stains and whitens discolored enamel in a short time without altering tooth structure or existing dental work. When your teeth reach the desired brightness, only limited touch-up is needed to maintain your new smile. We distribute touch-up kits at our office for your convenience.

Drs. Brueggeman and Kopecky recommend home whitening before starting dental treatment so that new restorations match the new whiter and brighter color of your teeth. Since crowns, veneers and tooth colored fillings do not whiten, patients will sometimes choose to replace old restorations on front teeth to match the new whiter color of the natural teeth.

Will it help me?

Home whitening works on patients of any age but is not recommended for those under 13 years old. It is a safe method for creating a beautiful “brilliant” smile! It can be used to correct tooth discoloration that can be caused by staining, aging, or teeth damaged from medicines or other elements. In cases of extreme tooth discoloration, prolonged home whitening may be indicated. Sometimes crowns or veneers are the only solutions for the degree of whiteness you are seeking. Even then, home whitening is often done first as a conservative approach and to help with the final esthetic outcome.

We recommend using bleaching products under the supervision of our office since they can harm the gums and cause sensitivity to teeth. Professional whitening agents distributed at dental offices are typically of higher concentrations and can achieve brighter smiles with faster results.

What if only one tooth is affected?

This is associated with a nonvital tooth (a tooth no longer receiving a healthy blood supply). The main reason for discoloration of the nonvital tooth is that blood has diffused from the innermost layer into outer layers and is showing through the tooth. An internal bleaching technique can be performed on a tooth like this that has received previous root canal therapy.

How long will whitening last?

Studies have shown that even after 5 years, teeth are not expected to go back to their original darker or yellower shade. We find that many people like to touch-up their teeth whitening for special occasions (wedding, anniversary, reunion, prom, etc.). Some patients prefer regular touch-up because they are frequently in the public eye or for personal reasons. Once you have reached the degree of whiteness you are seeking, relapse is usually negligible and not noticed. If whitening is being done before restoration of the other teeth for color-matching purposes, we will wait 2 weeks after the last day of whitening before the final shade is selected.