At the office of Paul D. Nifong, Jr., DDS, we want to help you make your smile the best it can be. To do this, we offer a wide range of not just medical, but also cosmetic dental services, so you can keep your teeth healthy and beautiful at the same time. One of our most popular cosmetic dental services is our teeth whitening treatment, and in this article, we’ll go over a few key things you need to know about it in order to decide if it is right for you.
Teeth Whitening Basics
First, let’s cover the basics of how teeth whitening works. There are two main chemicals used for this purpose — hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide — and both of them serve to break down stains on a molecular level. The oxygen molecules in the peroxides interfere with the chemical structures of the molecules in the stains, causing them to weaken, which makes the stain easier to lift.
How Teeth Whitening Treatment Works
When you come to us for teeth whitening treatments, the first thing we will do is assess your particular concerns and work out a treatment schedule. Teeth whitening is typically done over multiple short appointments over a period of weeks, and these appointments consist of a cosmetic dentist applying a highly concentrated peroxide gel to your teeth, then letting the peroxide go to work for up to an hour. Sometimes, a UV light may also be used to increase the whitening effect of the peroxide alone. The dentist will then rinse off the whitening agent, discuss the results, and go over what you will need to do over the next few days to avoid staining your teeth again.