REASONS FOR WHITENING YOUR TEETH :

1. Improve confidence and self esteem
2. Make you feel and look younger
3. Be more attractive
4. Job success
5. Because you're worth it
6. Do you really need a reason?

GENERAL INFORMATION :
Bleaching is a procedure that is designed to lighten the colour of your teeth. When done properly, bleaching will not harm your teeth or gums. Significant lightening can be achieved in the majority of cases, but the RESULTS CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. Bleaching, like any other treatment, has some inherent risks and limitations. These are seldom serious enough to discourage you from having your teeth bleached, but should be considered in making a decision to have the treatment.

In addition, there are variables such as the type of discolouration that affects your teeth, the degree to which you follow our instructions, and the overall condition of your teeth that can affect the outcome of treatment.

CANDIDATES FOR BLEACHING :
Almost anyone is a candidate for bleaching. However, people with dark yellow or yellowish-brown teeth tend to bleach better than people with grey or bluish-grey teeth. Multi-coloured teeth, especially if stained due to tetracycline, do not bleach very well. In addition, teeth with many fillings, cavities, chips etc are usually best treated by bonding, porcelain veneers, or porcelain crowns.

TYPES OF BLEACHING
We are planning to whiten your teeth using a carbamide peroxide solution.

-Sonic Whitening : We are one of the first practices in the UK to introduce the new and improved tooth whitening system, Ultrasonic.

The Ultrasonic tooth whitening treatment is proving to be extremely popular. We have had fantastic results, with patients reporting the procedure to be painless, with no post-sensitivity. It is a very efficient way to have your teeth whitened.

The whitening procedure usually involves 2 appointments which are 1-2 weeks apart. The first appointment lasts for approximately 40 minutes. The appointment includes the use of an electric shade guide to record your pre-treatment shade. This is then followed by two 12 minute whitening sessions. This involves wearing upper and lower rubber trays with a comfortable amount of gel in them. We give you a break in between these two sessions, these sessions are usually when patients catch up with the gossip from the surgery magazines. At the end of the whitening procedure we will record the post-treatment shade and let you know how many shades your teeth have lightened.

The appointment 1-2 weeks later is a shorter appointment to give the teeth another whitening session, to boost the brightness. We have found arranging the appointment gives the patient a great result. At the second appointment we will also give you a home whitening kit, this can be used to brighten the teeth further down the track or before a sepecial event.

- Power Bleaching : This process can be done in one visit but may require two or more visits depending on how your teeth respond to the bleech. Each appointment takes about 1 hour. Due to the strong bleach used in this procedure, your gums need to be protected by either a resin or rubber shield. Then the bleach is applied and allowed to penetrate your teeth to lighten them. Usually, a special high intensity light will be used to further activate the bleach. Power bleaching can also be done to lighten a tooth that has had root canal treatment. In this case, the tooth is bleached both from the inside and the outside.

The advantages of power bleaching include us doing all the work for you and less overall time spent bleaching your teeth. The disadvantages include the normal inconvenience of any dental treatment such as having to keep your mouth open for the duration of the appointment and the increased costs as compared to home bleaching.

- Home Bleaching : This process can be done anywhere - not just at home. In involves wearing a custom-made bleaching tray that looks like a thin, transparent night guard which is filled with a mild bleaching gel. You need to wear the bleach-filled tray a specified number of hours per day (per our instructions) for approximately 2-4 weeks. We check your bleaching progress once a week during the period you are using the bleaching gel.

The advantages of home bleaching include convenience and possibly less cost. The disadvantages include the inconvenience of wearing the bleaching tray and the results depend upon your consistent use of the bleach.