Dull, discolored, or yellow teeth can impact your self-confidence. If you avoid smiling with your teeth, you can’t show your personality around others. Whitening stained teeth can help you feel less embarrassed about your smile. We can help whiten your smile without the wait. At Hebron Family Dental, we provide in-office and take-home professional teeth whitening to patients in Carrollton, TX.
Teeth whitening is a cosmetic treatment we customize to each patient’s smile. The goal of whitening treatment is to change the shade of teeth by multiple shades. We will help you meet your cosmetic goals with the best whitening treatment for your needs.
Why Do I Have Tooth Stains?
In most cases, tooth discoloration is gradual. If you don’t brush and floss enough, a thin bacterial film called plaque will cover your teeth and gums. This film makes the teeth appear discolored. Highly pigmented foods and drinks like wine, coffee, soy sauce, and berries can stain teeth over time.
Your teeth can also wear down due to aggressive brushing, acidic foods and drinks, or medications and medical conditions. This wear uncovers dentin, a dark underlayer beneath the white tooth enamel.
However, problems like sudden dental trauma can discolor teeth. A hit to the tooth can damage the blood vessels within, which makes the tooth appear gray or brown. A chip or crack in a tooth can also discolor the tooth.
ZOOM Teeth Whitening Treatments in Carrollton, TX
Our office uses ZOOM in-office and take-home teeth whitening. ZOOM is a type of laser teeth whitening treatment. To begin in-office teeth whitening treatment with ZOOM, we clean your teeth. Cleaning your teeth removes bacteria and food buildup to ensure whitening reaches throughout the smile.
Then, we cover the gums to expose the teeth. We will apply the whitening gel evenly to each tooth. Then, we use a ZOOM light to help active ingredients like hydrogen peroxide penetrate the tooth enamel. We will remove the gel and repeat this to ensure we reach your desired tooth shade. It takes about an hour to complete in-office teeth whitening treatment.
Take-home teeth whitening uses a whitening tray and whitening gel so you can whiten your teeth at home. Our office will create custom whitening trays. You will visit our office so we can take dental impressions of your teeth. We send these impressions to a lab, where technicians will create your whitening trays.
Then, you will return to our office, where we will provide your trays and whitening gel. At-home teeth whitening is customized to your needs. We will provide instructions on how often to wear your whitening trays daily.
At home, you will evenly apply the whitening gel to the inside of your trays. Then, you will wear the trays for the appropriate amount of time. If you receive in-office whitening first, you can touch up your results with take-home trays. Take-home whitening can take multiple weeks.
How to Cover Deep Tooth Stains
Some patients have stains we cannot remove with professional whitening treatment. This is because intrinsic stains are harder to remove. Intrinsic stains are stains within the tooth. Extrinsic stains occur on the tooth’s surface. We can remove these stains with a tooth whitening treatment.
Otherwise, we recommend these cosmetic and restorative treatments for our patients:
- Dental Bonding: Tooth bonding uses composite resin to cover damaged and discolored teeth. Dental bonding is an excellent option for small chips or cracks in the teeth and single discolored teeth. The bonding material can change the shape and color of teeth.
- Veneers: Dental veneers are thin tooth-colored shells that cover the front of teeth in the smile zone. Veneers are best for patients who want to ensure their white smile lasts for years.
- Dental Crowns: We will recommend dental crowns if you have worn or damaged teeth and tooth discoloration. A dental crown is a cap that can cover a single tooth. We recommend porcelain crowns because they are strong and we can color-match them to other teeth.
Teeth Whitening FAQs
Learn more about teeth whitening with answers to these common questions:
How do you maintain teeth whitening results?
Follow these tips to keep your teeth bright after whitening treatment:
- Brush and floss twice a day
- Use a fluoride toothpaste
- Avoid acidic or deeply pigmented foods and drinks
- Visit our office twice a year for an exam and cleaning
- Get touch-up whitening treatments in our office
Does teeth whitening hurt?
Teeth whitening can increase tooth sensitivity if you already have tooth wear. Bleaching agents that enter your tooth can also irritate your tooth’s nerves. If you know you have sensitive teeth, let us know so we can use a whitening gel with fewer active ingredients. We may also recommend a whitening alternative.
Is teeth whitening safe?
Yes, teeth whitening is safe. While experiencing some tooth or gum sensitivity is normal, we will help minimize your irritation. We use whitening trays that do not cover the gums. During in-office whitening, we will cover the gums to avoid gum irritation. We will also only recommend teeth whitening for adults.
How long does teeth whitening last?
Your teeth whitening results should last six or more months. You can visit our office for touch-up teeth whitening treatment. We recommend maintaining your whitening results every six to twelve months.
Can fluoride stain teeth?
Too much fluoride at a young age can change the color of teeth. Dental fluorosis occurs in children as their teeth develop. The signs of fluorosis include white lines, spots, or marks on teeth.
This tooth discoloration is harmless and will NOT weaken your child’s teeth. However, it can still impact the look of the teeth. We will recommend teeth whitening treatment as your child becomes a teen or adult to help remove this type of tooth discoloration.
How is professional teeth whitening different from store-bought teeth whitening?
Professional teeth whitening is much more powerful than store-bought options. Our teeth whitening treatments have higher levels of hydrogen peroxide, the active ingredient that bleaches teeth. Because of this, store-bought toothpaste and strips do not deliver your desired results.
Brighten Your Teeth
Get a white and bright smile with teeth whitening treatment in our Carrollton, TX office. Call for teeth whitening today at 972-236-5871 . You can also schedule an appointment at Hebron Family Dental online.
Do you have more questions about teeth whitening or whether you’re a good candidate for professional whitening? Feel free to ask Dr. Andrea Canales and Dr. William Jennings questions at your next visit. They will be happy to help you.