Brighten your smile with professional teeth whitening in Lake Haven
Are your teeth looking a little discoloured, or not as white as they used to be? A number of factors can cause discolouration, including age, dental health conditions and lifestyle choices like smoking or drinking too much coffee. The good news is that tooth discolouration is often reversible with cosmetic teeth whitening and consistent dental care.
At Advance Family Dental, we offer teeth whitening treatments to restore your brilliantly bright smile. We’ll create a custom teeth whitening kit (complete with whitening gel), so you can control the whitening process at home at your own pace — simply start the treatment again when your teeth start to look a little lack-lustre.
Book an appointment for teeth whitening on the Central Coast today!
What causes discolouration?
Tooth enamel stains can be caused by several lifestyle factors, like smoking or consuming tea, coffee, cola, wine and starchy foods like pasta and potatoes. However, there are also a number of health conditions that can also cause stains and discolouration (see below).
- Poor dental hygiene. Forgetting to brush and floss your teeth can cause plaque and other stains to build up between your teeth and on your tooth enamel. The same can be said for skipping professional cleaning appointments with your regular dentist.
- Disease. Oral diseases that prevent normal tooth enamel development and dentin (the yellower core under the tooth enamel) can cause discolouration. Certain medical treatments like radiation and chemotherapy can also cause discolouration.
- Medications. Various medications can discolour your teeth, like the antibiotics tetracycline and doxycycline, chlorhexidine and cetylpyridinium chloride in some mouthwashes, and even antihistamines and antipsychotic drugs.
- Age. As you get older, your tooth enamel starts to wear away, and the tooth dentin underneath starts to grow, ultimately decreasing the size of the pulp below. The yellow dentin causes discolouration with age.
- Trauma. Both children and adults can suffer tooth discolouration from trauma, e.g. sports injuries. A hit to the mouth can disturb the enamel formation in children under eight, and for adults, it can impact blood flow to the tooth and cause the nerve to die, causing discolouration.
- Environmental factors. High levels of fluoride in tap water and excessive use of rinses and toothpaste can cause fluorosis, i.e. white spots on the teeth.
If you have discoloured teeth, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Most people suffer from discoloured teeth, which is why you’ll often see teeth whitening treatments at your local grocery store or pharmacy — toothpaste, mouthwashes, whitening trays, whitening strips and more.
While it may be tempting to opt for a cheaper, over-the-counter alternative to teeth whitening, professional dental treatment is recommended for longer-lasting, more successful results.
Why should I avoid over-the-counter teeth whitening treatments?
While over-the-counter teeth whitening kits are cheap and safe, they often don’t effectively do what they promise. Professional teeth whitening can last up to a year, possibly even longer, if you stock up on extra whitening gel for ongoing maintenance. On the other hand, over-the-counter whitening kits last a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months at best.
Other cons to choosing over-the-counter teeth whitening products include:
- Uneven whitening. Over-the-counter products often lead to patchiness and even multi-coloured teeth. Plus, there’s no real way to treat a single discoloured tooth!
- Possible pain. If you suffer from sensitive teeth or tissue problems, over-the-counter teeth whitening products can cause pain due to the ingredients. This can cause inflammation in the gums, pain and other uncomfortable problems.
- Tooth damage. Some products are high in acids and compounds that attack the enamel and weaken the teeth. This can cause discomfort and pain.
With all of this in mind, we highly recommend talking to our teeth whitening dentists in Lake Haven. A one-off appointment with our dentists could save you hundreds of dollars in over-the-counter, ineffective teeth whitening products!
How our cosmetic teeth whitening works
At Advance Family Dental, we offer take-home teeth whitening kits so you can manage the whitening process at home at your own pace.
In our initial consultation, we’ll take an impression of your teeth so we can make a personalised mouthguard (or bleaching trays). After a few days, we’ll invite you back to our dental practice to collect your bleaching trays and whitening gel so that you can begin the treatment process in the privacy of your own home.
We’ll also provide a pamphlet with instructions on how to use the whitening gel. You will simply need to line the inside of your bleaching trays with whitening gel, place the trays securely over your teeth, and allow the whitening gel to sit for 30 minutes to an hour. You will need to do this every day/night for two weeks.
If you need another treatment in 18 months or so, simply drop into our dental practice to purchase some new whitening gel. This will cost less than $50 for a two-week treatment!
Alternatively, you can choose to apply top-up treatments once or twice a month to maintain your pearly-white smile.