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/

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