Teeth Whitening
Reasons Teeth Change Colour
Food and Drinks
Coffee, tea, red wine, curry and other foods can stain your teeth. The intense colour pigments from these items attach to the white tooth enamel and make teeth appear darker.
Tobacco Use
The tar and nicotine chemicals in tobacco create stains. Tar is naturally dark and nicotine becomes a yellowish, surface-staining substance when mixed with oxygen.
Age
Over time, the layer of white enamel gets thinner and the yellowish area below the enamel, called dentin, starts to show through.
Trauma
A tooth may change colour as a reaction to an injury. Getting hit in the mouth causes the tooth to lay down more dentin under the enamel.
Medications
Tooth darkening can be a side effect of certain medications or treatments.
Surface Whitening Versus Tooth Bleaching
Teeth whitening is a cosmetic dental treatment that lightens the colour of your natural teeth. There are options to brighten teeth using surface whitening or bleaching.
When tooth discolouration is the result of surface stain accumulation, some patients try surface whiteners, like specially-formulated toothpastes, first. These products use mild abrasive materials to scrub the teeth and break up surface stains. These products don’t actually change the colour of the teeth as they only remove surface stains.
The active ingredients in tooth bleaching products are hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, ingredients that can alter the colour of the tooth itself. The bleaches break stains into smaller pieces, making their colour less concentrated and causing teeth to look brighter. Over-the-counter teeth whitening kits contain a lower concentration of the bleaching agents than what’s available from a dentist.
Teeth Whitening at The Nightingale Clinic
At-Home Bleaching
Our at-home bleaching kits come with a custom-made tray. Once you decide to push forward with teeth whitening treatment, our dental professionals will take impressions that the dental laboratory uses to build your bespoke tray. As custom teeth whitening trays fit your mouth perfectly, they ensure the specially-formulated bleaching solution covers all teeth evenly. Additionally, these trays can protect your gums from the solution. We outline precisely how to place the bleaching solution in the tray, how often you need to use it and how long to leave the tray in your mouth. At-home whitening takes a bit longer, with patients seeing results anywhere from days to weeks after they start using the kit.
Maintain the Results of Teeth Whitening
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Use a whitening toothpaste at least a few times each week.
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Practise good dental hygiene at home, and stay on top of your dental hygiene appointments.
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Avoid consuming food and drink with strong pigments, such as curry or red wine.
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Perform occasional maintenance whitening treatments.
Does Whitening Work on All Teeth?
Our team always gives patients reasonable expectations when it comes to their teeth. Unfortunately, teeth whitening doesn’t work on all teeth and it doesn’t correct every type of discolouration. In cases where discolouration is caused by an injury or medication, there aren’t any teeth whiteners to correct the colour of these teeth.
Teeth whitening is also not effective on crowns, bridges, veneers or fillings. If you have any of these matched to the natural colour of your teeth, they will not brighten if you use a bleaching agent.
