Teeth whitening is a wonderful quick and easy treatment that can be done to remove the appearance of staining and discoloration, making your smile appear years younger.

It’s an inescapable truth… white is the preferred hue for your teeth when it comes to modern standards of beauty. Just compare the two pictures below! You are inherently programmed to find the second smile the more attractive one. Brown, grey and yellow simply don’t make the cut and rightly so!

Very few people are ‘born’ with perfectly white teeth. It takes a fair amount of professional intervention to get your teeth looking absolutely flawless. In fact, your dental enamel is naturally an off-white or even pale yellow color. So how do all those celebrities get their smiles looking like sunlit snow? Well, it takes a few visits to the Silver Spring dentist and perhaps some teeth whitening!

Ask the Dentist in Silver Spring: How Does Teeth Whitening Work?

A teeth whitening treatment essentially involves the application of a special gel to the crowns of the teeth. A strong dental light is then shone on the teeth to activate the bleaching agent in the gel, which, in professional whitening kits, is typically a 10% concentration of hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.

After about 30 minutes, the enamel of the teeth will have been bleached quite a few shades lighter, eliminating the appearance of staining and discoloration caused by repeated exposure to the natural tannins, dyes and pigments in foods and beverages. A professional whitening treatment can also help to counteract the appearance of staining caused by smoking or chewing tobacco. In severe cases of discoloration, patients may first require treatment for decay or gum disease, or a cosmetic procedure such as porcelain veneers.

Can Anyone Go for Teeth Whitening?

A professional teeth whitening is one of the simplest and quickest cosmetic procedures offered by the dentist in Silver Spring, so most people are able to book themselves in for a treatment without any problems. However, in cases where patients present with a poor standard of oral health, your dentist may first recommended treatment to resolve these issues. A bacterial infection of the gums – for example, periodontitis and gingivitis – can render the soft tissues in the mouth weak and very sensitive, which might cause them to react adversely to the bleaching agent in the whitening gel.

In any case, it is always advisable that patients first have their oral health restored to an acceptable standard before simply opting for cosmetic improvement. This can quite naturally come about by improving health and hygiene.

How Long Do the Results of a Teeth Whitening Last?

This really depends upon what kind of staining agents – and the frequency with which you consume them – you expose your teeth to. If you’re a heavy coffee drinker and a smoker, no doubt your results will be shorter-lived than a non-smoker who restricts their coffee intake. Generally, however, the results of a professional teeth whitening can last up to a year before re-treatment becomes necessary.

Remember, bleaching your teeth may remove evidence of past staining, but it won’t prevent future staining, so you may want to go easy on the red wine for a while! Also, nothing preserves the youthful beauty of your pearly whites like proper oral hygiene. A teeth whitening treatment will not erase evidence of decay and infection caused by negligence.