Teeth whitening treatments are available to satisfy every budget and time frame to improve the brightness and whiteness of your smile. Bleaching is used only when the teeth can be whitened beyond their natural color. This applies strictly to products that contain bleach – typically hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. Whitening restores a tooth’s surface color by removing dirt and debris.
3 Types of Teeth Whitening
In-Office Whitening
- Up to 12 shades whiter in under an hour, without sensitivity
- 2 formula strengths available based on age, proneness to sensitivity and desired results
- GLO Lip Care and GLO Gingival barrier application provides a comfortable whitening experience
- Carefully controlled use of a no carbamide peroxide with a special desensitizing formula
- Peroxide remains on the teeth for 2-4, 8 minute applications
- Continue with a GLO Professional Take Home Kit
Professional Take-Home Whitening System
- Can produce the great results over a long amount of time
- Easy-to-use lower-concentration peroxide gel that remains on the teeth for an hour or longer and sometimes overnight
- The lower the peroxide percentage, the longer it may safely remain on the teeth
- The gel is applied to the teeth using custom-made bleaching trays that resemble mouth guards
Over-the-Counter Teeth Whitening Kits
- Least expensive option
- Features a bleaching gel with a concentration lower than that of a professional take-home whitening system
- The gel is applied to the teeth via one-size-fits-all trays, whitening strips or paint-on applicators
- It may only whiten a few of the front teeth, unlike custom trays that can whiten the entire smile
Why do Teeth Stain?
- As we age and your starting color ranging from yellow-brownish to greenish-grey intensifies over time. Yellow-brown is generally more responsive to bleaching than green-grey.
- Translucency and thinness are genetic traits that become more pronounced with age. While all teeth show some translucency, those that are opaque and thick have an advantage: they appear lighter in color, show more sparkle and are responsive to bleaching. Teeth that are thinner and more transparent – most notably the front teeth – have less of the pigment that is necessary for bleaching. Transparency is the only condition that cannot be corrected by any form of teeth whitening.
- The habitual consumption of red wine, coffee, tea, cola, carrots, oranges and other deeply-colored beverages and foods causes considerable staining over the years. In addition, acidic foods such as citrus fruits and vinegar contribute to enamel erosion. As a result, the surface becomes more transparent and more of the yellow-colored dentin shows through.
- Nicotine leaves brownish deposits which slowly soak into the tooth structure and cause intrinsic discoloration.
- Tetracycline usage during tooth formation produces dark grey or brown ribbon stains which are very difficult to remove. Excessive consumption of fluoride causes fluorosis and associated areas of white mottling.
- Teeth grinding, most frequently caused by stress, can add to micro-cracking in the teeth and can cause the biting edges to darken.
- Falls and other injuries can produce sizable cracks in the teeth, which collect large amounts of stains and debris.
