Tooth Whitening makes your smile sparkle!

Tooth bleaching, also known as tooth whitening, is a common procedure in general dentistry but most especially in the field of cosmetic dentistry. Many people consider white teeth to be an attractive feature of a smile. A child's deciduous teeth are generally whiter than the adult teeth that follow. As a person ages the adult teeth often become darker due to changes in the mineral structure of the tooth, as the enamel becomes less porous. Teeth can also become stained by bacterial pigments, foodstuffs and tobacco.

The procedure to bleach teeth uses oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide to lighten the shade of the tooth. The oxidizing agent penetrates the porosities in the rod-like crystal structure of enamel and oxidizes interprismatic stain deposits; over a period of time, the dentin layer, lying underneath the enamel, is also bleached. The effects of bleaching can last for several months, but may be shortened by cigarette smoking, and tea and coffee consumption.

STAINED / YELLOW TEETH
In some cases, your teeth might have a yellow tint to them as your natural color. Not all teeth start off as bright white, and some people’s natural tooth color tends to be more yellow than white. You can usually determine if this is the case for you because your teeth will all be the same color. If your teeth vary in color or shades of yellow, then they are probably stained.

What Causes Stained Teeth?
Tetracycline, an antibiotic, can cause discoloration of teeth in children, making them appear blotchy. Most drinking water has fluoride added to it, which is a good thing, because it helps to prevent cavities. However, if there is too much fluoride in the water, this could cause your teeth to turn yellow too. There are also some medical conditions which will make your teeth change color.

In most cases, however, yellow teeth are caused by food, drinks, or tobacco staining the surface enamel of the tooth. Smokers almost always have yellow stained teeth, as well as people who drink large amounts of coffee. Soda and tea are also responsible. Although these are the main culprits, any type of food can stain your teeth if they are not properly brushed. Underneath your tooth enamel is a material called dentin. Dentin is naturally yellow, and as you age your tooth enamel becomes worn down, exposing the dentin. This is why some people notice a color change in their teeth as they grow older.

What causes yellowing of teeth?

There are many causes.  Ageing will cause yellowing of the teeth.  Other common causes include staining substances (eg. coffee, tea, cola and tobacco), fillings and nerve degeneration.  Excessive fluoride and consumption of certain antibiotics also cause staining during tooth formation.

What can tooth whitening do?

Tooth whitening is a process by which activated oxygen is placed in contact with the teeth and this gently removes the stains that are within the tooth or teeth.

How long do the results last?

When you have your teeth whitened, the results are going to last anywhere between three and five years, depending upon what you eat and your lifestyle. Now what's going to happen is, you'll have your teeth whitened, and that's as white as they're going to be, once you have that shade. And they're going to begin to taper off slowly over that three to five years. However, you can have them touched up any way--any place--along the line. So if your teeth started at nice and white, and they start to get a little bit yellower, you don't have to wait the three to five years before you whiten them again and have them back to that wonderful color you look forward to.

The teeth will always be whiter than they were before whitening.  However, some patients may need periodic re-whitening every two to three years if they continue with staining substances like caffeine or tobacco products.

If you're interested in brightening your smile, have your teeth evaluated by us. Not everyone is a good candidate for whitening. In some cases of serious discoloration and pitted teeth, for example, veneers may be more appropriate than whitening. Moreover, crowns, bridges, and fillings do not whiten, so it may be necessary to replace dental work to make it blend with the new color of your whitened teeth.