Dental Treatment
Treatment
Teeth whitening
Conventional teeth whitening
This is a system of professional teeth whitening which is carried out by the patient at home, but controlled and supervised by the dentist. Impressions of upper and lower jaw are taken and the patient gets celluloid custom-made bleaching trays. The Opalescence PF (Ultradent,USA) 10%, 15% or 20% whitening gel is transparent, thick and contains carbamide peroxide gel (whitening substance) and fluoride and potassium nitrate (additional ingredients) which prevent from hypersensitivity. After the patient is trained by our staff, he can apply the whitening gel into the trays by himself. This method is recommended to whiten vital and non-vital teeth. The effects turn out quickly and and are durable. Trays with 20% whitening gel need to be worn for 4 hours whereas the trays with 10% or 15% whitening gel should be worn for 8 – 10 hours (it's recommended to sleep with the trays). Intensive whitening effect can be achieved already after the first night. This whitening takes 7 – 10 days and the effect lasts for approx. 2 years (depending on the diet, hygienic procedures and smoking habit).
Prosthetic restorations (e.g. crowns and bridges) and fillings won't be whitened. If needed, after the colour is stabilized (what takes approx. 10 – 14 days) the dentist can replace the old crowns, bridges or fillings with whiter ones. During the whitening a small per cent of patients may feel hypersensitivity on coldness, but it goes by after a couple of days.
Advantages of conventional teeth whitening:
- low-cost solution
- no or very small hypersensitivity to temperature changes during the whitening
- after whitening the trays can be re-used for another whitening, you only need to buy the whitening gel
- the patients decides by himself on the level of whitening by regulating the length of whitening
Disadvantages of conventional teeth whitening:
- the whitening effect is less intensive compared to office-whitening
- whitening effect lasts for a shorter period of time (up to 2 years) compared to office-whitening
- time-consuming – recommended duration 10 days
- in case of careless usage of the whitening gel, there may be a risk of burning the soft tissues in your mouth
