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Everyone wants to have a radiantly white and healthy smile. There are so many teeth whitening procedures ranging from do-it-yourself products to professional tooth whitening treatments offered by your dentists, like the modern treatments at Sydney Laser Dental Care. They are specifically offering tooth whitening using laser treatments. Let us understand what laser teeth whitening is, its pros and cons, and who can benefit from tooth whitening laser.
Teeth Whitening: Your Choices And Their Uses
Because teeth whitening is the most requested cosmetic dentistry procedure, there are so many options that people choose from depending on their needs, budget, and dental status.
There are three categories that we can group these treatments:
- In-office tooth whitening treatment supervised by your dentist
- At-home teeth whitening customized by your dentist
- Over-the-counter treatments or natural teeth whitening remedies
The best way to choose what treatment would suit your needs is to ideally consult your dentist. The factors that can affect the type of teeth whitening would depend on the following factors:
- The severity of discoloration
- Your budget for the treatment
- The preferred process of the treatment
- The patient’s age
- The overall dental status (previous dental procedures, sensitivity, fillings, and crowns, etc.)
What you need to remember is to make sure that your dentist would somehow give you a go-signal if your teeth whitening procedure is applicable for your needs and preference.
Professional Teeth Whitening
Dentists who perform in-office dental whitening procedures offer two options for their patients.
Chemical Teeth Whitening
Chemical whitening is using bleaching compounds, particularly peroxides. Between hydrogen and carbamide peroxide, the dentist uses one or both of these bleaching chemicals to make your teeth at least one shade lighter. An in-office tooth whitening procedure using bleaching agents can be advantageous since the process is supervised by a dental professional, the use of the chemicals are controlled and managed by your dentist, and the treatment works rapidly. In fact, your dentist may inform you that you would only need at least one treatment visit to whiten your teeth. This procedure may last for an hour, but the whitening effect, as a result, can last a long time. This is because the concentration of hydrogen or carbamide peroxide in the whitening products is greater than in the over-the-counter whitening items you use at home.
Laser Teeth Whitening
Another in-office teeth whitening procedure dentists offer their patients is the one using a tooth whitening laser. During the procedure, your cosmetic dentist places a whitening solution to your teeth and add a light-activated tooth whitening laser that gives off light or heat to speed up the reaction of the whitening solution to the tooth surface stains. To keep the gums and other neighboring parts of the mouth to be affected by the laser and the chemical agents, the dentist applies a barricade or guard over your gums to protect them. It can be in the form of a gel that becomes rubbery and hard as the procedure progresses.
Benefits of Laser Teeth Whitening
Many people are turning to laser teeth whitening as their go-to solution for removing the stains and discoloration of the teeth. Many patients who underwent the procedure noted that the process made their teeth whiter faster. They also mentioned that the whitening solution that the dentist used with the tooth whitening laser is a milder version of the whitening or bleaching agents used I other in-office whitening options. Using this procedure also has a lesser percentage when it comes to side effects affecting the gums of the surrounding tissues near the teeth. Since the tooth whitening laser is a pen-like device, it can be directly pointed to the specific tooth it needs to target, without harming the gums.
Complaints about Laser Teeth Whitening
You may think that using tooth whitening laser may be the best option for you, but we have to mention the disadvantages that it can pose to the patients. For one, the cost of this teeth whitening procedure is reportedly the most expensive. If you are planning to undergo laser teeth whitening, prepare a budget that is almost twice to thrice the normal cost of take-home whitening trays from your dentist.
One more flaw of this teeth whiting solution is its overall results. Well, all teeth whitening procedures may have different levels of whitening effect depending on the extent of your discoloration, the reason for the stains, and many other factors. With that said, the effects of laser teeth whitening can definitely whiten your teeth at least a shade lighter, but the real effect will vary from person to person. One patient may achieve the right shade that she is aiming for because the stains that she has are superficial, while another patient who uses the same procedure would report only minimal changes to have occurred.
The most notable disadvantage of using laser teeth whitening is that it causes your teeth to become dehydrated. Because the tooth whitening laser uses light and heat to activate the whitening solution, it causes the normal intrinsic fluid content of the teeth to evaporate and leave the tooth, making it sensitive, and somehow, brittle.
As mentioned earlier, there are still so many teeth whitening options that you can choose from to make your smile brighter and more radiant. In order to make sure that your journey toward teeth whitening is the best way to achieve your goal, consult your dentist and discuss with him your needs and preferences so he can guide you in choosing the right option for you.
Carindale Family Dentist offers professional teeth whitening at an affordable price. Check out their site today.
