A lot of people don’t love their smile and will do odd things to hide it – like changing hairstyles, wearing funky clothing or cultivating a year-round tan.

Smile whitening is the quickest and cheapest way to make a huge impact on the quality of your smile – yet whitening toothpaste and drug store whitening kits have left many teeth whitening experimenters exhausted, perplexed and disappointed. Why is this?

The fact is there are many reasons for teeth staining or discoloration and there are specific dental teeth whitening approaches to each. This article provides quick facts with a link to more details about all the issues surrounding teeth whitening.

Downtown Nanaimo Dental Group’s dentists and dental professionals recognize that you are a unique individual and we want to help you find the best teeth whitening solution for you.

We also understand that you need to be fully informed when you make the decision to whiten your teeth and start smiling!

What Stains Teeth?

• Surface Stains: Caused by strong discolouring agents such as coffee, tea, tobacco, blueberries, red wine
• Soft Deposits:  Caused by plaque
• Intrinsic Stains: Caused by medications, such as tetracycline; trauma to the tooth leading to internal bleeding; advanced decay; defective silver fillings

What are the teeth whitening treatment options?

Polishing
This is the lowest-cost form of teeth whitening used to treat minor surface stains.  Microabrasion is a more advanced form of polishing that can be used for deeper stains.

Tooth whitening
If you are happy with the shape and proportion of your teeth and want a brighter smile, teeth whitening is a relatively inexpensive and noninvasive approach.

Dental office whitening is quicker as it uses professionally dispensed stronger and freshly prepared agents under a controlled environment.

Professional home whitening is also an option that spreads the treatment period over 10 days to 2 weeks.  The downside of this is that you need to take care of the custom trays and maintain the supplies.

The third option is prefilled disposable trays also known as whitening on the go. You apply them for just 20 minutes a day and dispose of them after you are done.

Bonding
Bonding can be used to cosmetically contour teeth and mask many types of stains.  However, bonded teeth tend to stain easily and require periodic repair.  Bonding is a good teeth whitening option only if you are not a heavy smoker or coffee drinker and are willing to take extra care of your new smile.

Porcelain Veneers
Porcelain doesn’t stain so has the property of staying attractive for a much longer time as it is custom fabricated at a lab. Porcelain veneers can be very conservative and can be as thin as 0.3 millimetres but can have the added benefit of improving the shape of teeth and the bite.

Crowns
Crowns are not normally recommended for discoloured but otherwise healthy teeth.  For teeth with other functional issues, such as large fillings or excessive wear, or weak teeth due to crack and craze lines, crowns may be an option.  Like porcelain veneers, crowns provide re-shaping of teeth and are resistant to staining. Crowns provide support and protect a tooth. Better chewing ability also leads to better overall health.

For full and detailed information on the pros and cons of each teeth whitening procedure please visit the Downtown Nanaimo Dental Group website.