How should I whiten my teeth?


My methods for bleaching teeth has changed a little but has for the most part stayed the same.  I still employ a zoom system for chairside whitening and still make trays for follow up whitening. If a patient wants to sav ea little money, I may suggest tray bleaching alone or Zoom Whitening alone.  I  explain that if they want to add a second modality with in a year I will discount that so that they may get a lower "bundle" fee.

The new Zoom system is manufactured by Phillips and utilizes a bright visible spectrum light in place of the previous UV light. This is a good thing since the operator had to make sure to not illuminate any exposed skin or gingiva with the older UV system. I have used the newer Zoom system for over a year and it seems to perform equally well as the older version. I pre-warm the whitening gel by partially submerging it in warm water prior to using it for 3 or 4 - 15 minute sessions. Although sensitivity afterwards seems to still be a problem, most patients report that this goes away within the first 24 hours. While many offices delegate this treatment to an auxiliary, I personally supervise all sessions.

 Prior to beginning Zoom sessions, I take upper and lower alginate impressions, so that Jennifer can pour up stone models and begin the fabrication of at home custom bleaching trays. These trays are generally ready in a day or two and can be used to continue the whitening process at home and are also useful for "touch ups", when needed.

Currently we give our patients 35% carbamide peroxide whitening gel that is to be used for thirty minutes during the day. It works well and seems to be an excellent choice as compared to other gels that I have tried. Tray whitening alone can work well but may take a couple of weeks longer.

For patients on a budget or who are not ready to commit to either in office or custom trays we offer Opolescence Go trays that are essentially "stock" one size fits all trays loaded with 15% carbamide peroxide and are worn for twenty minutes a session. These are perfect to be used before a night out or a special occasion in order to give a smile a little more pizzaz, but not so great when compared with custom trays or Zoom in office whitening.




from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2019/10/how-should-i-whiten-my-teeth.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Image
If you’re the parent of a young child, you know their brains are similar to sponges that soak up everything around them—especially in their first five years, which neuroscientists say is when they’ll do the most learning and developing in their entire life. At this formative time, your child may amaze you with what they notice: your facial expressions, the different tones of your voice, and your habits. If your habits include regular dental visits and an excellent oral hygiene routine, they’ll notice and want to emulate you. If you happen to feel anxious about your dental visits, or you groan when you’ve got to floss and brush, they may synchronize and feel your dread. This could lead to dental fears that stick with them for years—potentially a lifetime! Kids Can Be Courageous If you’re feeling guilty right now, go ahead and put that away as it won’t serve you or your little one. Everyone has some room for improvement, and Coastal Pediatric Dentistry® is here to help show you an
Read more

Going for the Gold?

Image
On the left is the older allow, on the right the new one that my lab has chosen to use The cost of a penny weight of pure gold is currently $79.53. The cost of a penny weight of pure palladium is $130.6. It used to be that palladium was added instead of gold to the precious metals often used for pfms, but now laboratories are finding that palladium is no longer affordable. The lab that I am using has just changed the formulation of the metal it's using to one that has more gold than palladium. I really do not mind, but metals with more gold are softer and often easier for a dentist to accidentally polish off delicate margins. It is important when polishing "higher gold" formulations to exert less hand pressure when performing the final polishing of the crown's margins. Other wise there should be no problem with this change. Traditionally labs have chosen alloys with higher gold percentages for optimal esthetics, since alloys with higher concentrations of
Read more

Tongue Ties: What Parents Need to Know

Image
For a long time, people just didn’t seem to know much about tongue ties. In the early years of my practice, few of my patients had ever heard of a tongue tie. When I pointed out that they or their children might be tongue tied, I was often the very first practitioner who’d mentioned it to them. When I told them that a tongue tie might actually be the root cause of their oral myofunctional issues, or even their sleep apnea , I’m sure that some of them thought I was crazy. But in the last few years, things have changed so much! Initially, there was a small increase in the number of patients who were contacting me specifically about tongue ties. Dentists and orthodontists also began reaching out more frequently to discuss the application of myofunctional therapy exercises to tongue tie treatment. But in the last year or so, that little bit of interest has become a surge of awareness. Tongue ties and their effects on health and craniofacial development are finally becoming mainstream.
Read more