Teeth Whitening in Wexford, PA
Having a beautiful smile may be even easier than you think. Many people achieve the look they’ve been dreaming of with our simple “whitening” procedures.
What are the details of teeth whitening?
There are a number of ways that you can whiten your teeth. The three most common techniques include the Zoom Whitening process, the take-home tray technique, and whitening strips.
You can whiten your teeth regardless of your age! But Dr. Smith and Dr. Saundry do not recommend it for children under the age of 16 unless there is some special situation that would indicate the need for whitening.
Imagine Smiling Confidently With a Brighter Smile!
All three whitening techniques, when used as directed, are completely safe for the teeth and gums, as well as any dental fillings, crowns, etc. All of the tooth whitening techniques employ carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide as the active ingredient. If used improperly you can cause serious damage to your gums and other structures!
Zoom Whitening is an in-office technique where the hygienist will isolate your teeth by covering the gums with gauze and a protective gel. A whitening agent is then applied to the teeth and activating light is used to start the whitening process. The whitening agent is removed and replaced about every 15 minutes. The entire appointment takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Zoom Whitening will give you the greatest degree of whitening of any of the whitening techniques. Our fee for the Zoom Whitening is $600.
Tray whitening is less than half the cost of Zoom whitening but will still whiten the teeth to about 90% of the level you can accomplish with the Zoom technique. With the tray whitening technique, we take impressions of your upper and lower arch and then pour up stone models which we use to fabricate custom-fitting trays to fit over your teeth. A thick whitening gel is placed into the teeth (by you, at home) and then worn for about 40 minutes. If you do this once a day for a week you will see dramatic results! Our fee for the tray whitening is $275. One of the advantages of tray whitening is that you can buy the refill gel at the cost of $80. You do not need to have new trays made unless you have significant dental work done which would change the shape of your teeth substantially.
You can go from yellow to white in just a few days! The patient below used the whitening tray technique every other day for 2 weeks (7 total treatments). He kept the trays in for 20 minutes for each treatment. And look at the difference! If you use the gel for 30 minutes for each of your home treatments and do 7 treatments in 10 days you would get even better results! And he didn’t even use 2/3 of the gel which comes in the kit!
Whitening strips are available in many retail stores and there are a mind-boggling number of brands that come in widely varying strengths. We are currently using Sheer White! brand of strips which are 20% Carbamide Peroxide and we charge $75. We recently noted that one of the local Walmart chains had 8% strips for $50. We recommend wearing the strips for at least an hour. No appointment is necessary. You can just walk into the office and buy them over the counter. The white strips produce slightly less dramatic results than the tray technique.
Key Benefits of Teeth Whitening
- Corrects brown, yellow, and spotted tooth staining
- Works on people of any age
- Is a near-permanent solution for a “dull” smile, restoring brightness and bringing a smile alive
Important facts about Teeth Whitening
No matter what technique you employ to whiten your teeth, there will always be a relapse to your original tooth shade. This depends on a lot of factors such as your diet, your dental hygiene habits, and your natural body chemistry. The doctors and staff will talk to you about this when you’re in the office.
When used as directed, the whitening techniques are perfectly safe! But if they are overused or the instructions are not followed you can damage yourself!!