Everyone wants a brighter, whiter, younger-looking smile. There are many options available today for patients to whiten their teeth. Most people can achieve a whiter smile through bleaching or veneers.
Over the counter bleaching products may work, but because the concentration of the bleach is less than what is offered through a professional dental office, the results may take longer to achieve or be less than what the patient desires.
A dentist can offer you bleaching trays and a stronger concentration of bleaching gel. The trays can be worn at your leisure for as little as 30 minutes a day, depending on the strength of the bleaching gel.
We like to start our patients with an in-office bleaching procedure first, which “boosts” their results. After a one-hour appointment to apply a concentrated whitening solution on the teeth, patients can take home their trays to continue the whitening process at home.
In some cases, a patient may have such severe discoloration that whitening alone will not produce the desired results. In that case, dental porcelain veneers may be the answer to achieve a whiter smile.
Dental veneers can be used not only to whiten your teeth, but also to repair chips, cracks, or worn areas of teeth, close gaps between teeth, and in some cases, correct misaligned teeth.
What are veneers? Veneers are a thin shell or facing, generally made of highly glazed porcelain, that is bonded to your natural teeth. Once veneers are bonded, they are considered permanent, and are a very strong restoration. Usually a small amount of tooth surface is removed from the front of the tooth during this procedure, though much less than what would be removed for a crown. In some cases, resin or “plastic” based veneers can be applied that do not require any enamel be removed. The beauty of veneers is that since they are custom made by a dental lab, the patient can choose virtually any shade of white they desire.
Whitening your teeth can be an easy and painless procedure. Both bleaching and veneers are reliable and generally conservative dental procedures that can give a patient the “Hollywood smile” that many people want.
We are currently offering one-hour “Boost” whitening with trays for $275. Dr. Young is now at a new office location and for more information you can call her at 661-257-6453.