I was asked by a patient today for some crowns since he hated his stained front teeth and wanted to improve his smile. He was a little surprised when I suggested a pre-treatment tooth whitening. The benefit of pre-whitening is that the new crowns can be matched to the new lighter shade. The consequence will be a brighter smile for him as his teeth will go back to (or even beyond) their original shade. Without pre-whitening, the new crowns would have been darker. Crowns can’t be whitened once fitted so the darker shade would probably have been locked in for life. Often people wish to change an old crown which is too light. The reality is that the crown was matched to the whiter tooth shade from ten or twenty years ago. Instead of making a new darker crown to match the aged teeth, we can now whiten all of the teeth back to the original shade, and leave the crown(s) untouched. This is easier, safer and less costly.
I’m pleased to report that he accepted my suggestion and has taken the first steps to a new whiter smile.
A Tooth Whitening Thought for the Day
Why Tooth Whitening?
All teeth slowly darken over time and this also darkens your smile. The most common culprits in our diet are coffee, tea, colas, curry and red wines. Another common cause is smoking. If you’ve noticed your smile is not what it used to be, the good news is that all of these stains respond very well to whitening treatments.
The easiest way to lift your darkened smile is with tooth whitening.
A successfully applied tooth or teeth whitening treatment will permanently lighten your teeth. The effect on your smile can be dramatic. For less than the cost of a single crown or veneer, all of your teeth can be whitened. Properly applied modern Dental Whitening procedures can not only take you to any natural shade you want, but even beyond into the territory of the ‘Hollywood’ Smile. There are many folks who think that’s too white, so that’s why selecting the right shade is very important.
I’ve been whitening teeth for many years now, and I’m aware of all the techniques out there. I’ve tried them all. Most are pretty useless and very disappointing. Some are dangerous. There are a few techniques at present which work well, but only one that gives you good control over the final shade.
Over the next few weeks I hope to shed a little light on the mysteries of tooth whitening. If this interests you, please bookmark this Blog. I’m a newbie at present to Blogging, but hope to get better as time goes on.