For a variety of reasons, your teeth tend to look yellower, duller, and rougher as you age. Even diligent brushing and flossing can’t remove certain stains or remedy conditions that cause your teeth to lose their whiteness.
Your teeth could also lose luster due to tobacco products, poor oral hygiene, poor diet, food and beverage stains, and medication side effects. Professional teeth whitening turns back the clock and restores brilliance and brightness to your teeth.
One whitening session at the dentist’s office reverses the damage that stains and aging bring. More effective and safer for your teeth than store-bought methods, professional whitening can whiten your smile by eight shades in less than an hour.
At Le Dentistry & Associates in Norcross, Georgia, our providers recommend professional teeth whitening to instantly brighten your smile. Bright, shiny, white teeth also make you look instantly younger. Should you choose professional whitening over a kit from the drugstore? Yes, and here are three reasons why.
The kits you purchase in drugstores or online only have a small amount of hydrogen peroxide — the agent that breaks up stains on the surface of your teeth and also within the inner dentin. In fact, drugstore whiteners only have about 7%-10% hydrogen peroxide. Professional whitening solutions have 35%.
The extra strength in a professional solution has two benefits. First, it lightens your teeth by several shades in a single session. Second, it only takes one hour to accomplish this dramatic improvement. In contrast, you must use store-bought kits daily for days to weeks, and they only lighten your teeth by a few shades.
At-home whitening kits give you a small amount of improvement that lasts only for a short amount of time. Typically, the whitening effect only lasts a few months. If you want whiter teeth, you have to buy another kit and start the time-consuming treatments all over again.
While store-bought kits seem to be less expensive than professional whitening, when you add together all of the kits you have to buy — and factor in the time it took to whiten your teeth — the numbers are disappointing. Professional teeth whitening is more of an investment at first, but the better results last longer.
In fact, professional whitening results can last up to 15 months with careful maintenance, following your provider’s aftercare guidelines to keep your teeth bright and white. We may also give you customized at-home kits for regular touch-ups.
At-home teeth whitening can leave your teeth feeling extra sensitive to cold or heat. You don’t notice that side effect with professional teeth whitening. One study showed that less than 2% of patients who underwent Zoom® teeth whitening experienced increased tooth sensitivity.
It’s important to note that not everyone is ready for professional teeth whitening. If your teeth and gums aren’t healthy, it’s not yet time to whiten your teeth — we work with you to address those issues first. Also, some stains, such as those caused by medications, don’t respond to the bleaching agent.
Each professional teeth whitening session starts with an in-depth consultation with a dentist. We make sure that you’re ready for this treatment and understand what a great investment it can be.
Want brighter, whiter teeth in an hour? Call Le Dentistry & Associates for a professional teeth whitening treatment today. Book an appointment online or call our friendly staff.
