Your Healthy Magazine!
Page 16
Female Focus
Whiten up your smile…….
It is possible to whiten teeth effectively and safely - in fact it is one of the best cosmetic dental treatments available since it is non-invasive, painless, the results really are excellent and the teeth still look very natural because they are the person’s own natural teeth!
The discolouration of teeth increases with age, strongly staining foods and drinks e.g. coffee, tea, smoking and red wine etc, and over the years. Discolouration also can occur because of tetracycline taken in childhood, there may be a grey-brown tinge in non-vital teeth which may look darker than the rest, and enamel hypoplasia where intrinsic brown marks on the enamel may also occur.
Research has shown that HOME WHITENING treatment is far superior to LASER / POWER WHITENING. Laser whitening, which typically aims to whiten the teeth in the space of 1 hour, is far more harsh than home whitening which uses low concentrations of bleaching agent applied daily for about 2 weeks. This method gives a slower and more sustained release of the bleaching agent and gives more predictable, controllable and long lasting results - teeth stay white for up to ten years, and even then they won’t return to the original shade.
Home whitening uses custom moulded trays (like gumshields) to hold professional whitening gels on the teeth. They are worn at night for one to two weeks or during the daytime for 45 minutes.
WHITENING STRIPS, which stick onto the teeth are another method for whitening which is cheaper and convenient especially for top ups and maintenance after a whitening treatment. Many people also get impressive results with these.
Some unnaturally white smiles (without mentioning any names) are often a sign of veneers and not whitened teeth, as whitened teeth still look natural – though some people can go overboard if they choose to. No matter how much bleaching agent you apply, all teeth have a maximum level beyond which they will not whiten - it is said that the most natural effect is when teeth match the whites of your eyes.
Discolouration can be lifted easily, but greyness caused by tetracycline antibiotics takes very much longer, and whitening results are reduced. The shade of crowns or white fillings cannot be improved by bleaching, but a non-vital tooth can now be lightened by putting bleach inside the pulp chamber i.e. the innermost part of the tooth – however results vary and a badly discoloured tooth would most likely need to be veneered or crowned.
A whitening treatment is a great gift for a partner or friend whose teeth need it!
Article supplied by Dr Karen Gardner, Clinica Dental La Plaza, Edif La Plaza - next to Deutsche Bank / Club de Tenis, Javea, telephone 96 646 1120. See advert above for other services offered.
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