Tooth whitening

Tooth lightening is a technique that helps lighten the tint of teeth to give them a more attractive shine and shine. This treatment is proposed “outpatient” that is, it is performed by the patient at home.

Made by Dr. Clarisse Bonnet

Preliminary consultation

The practitioner and the patient decide on the benefit of a tooth whitening during a preliminary consultation. A preliminary oral assessment is also carried out to rule out certain contraindications such as the presence of caries, leaky fillings or gingival inflammation. Finally, scaling and polishing of the dental arches are essential before carrying out the treatment.

It should be noted that the treatment allows a lightening of the natural tint of the teeth and that severe cases of dyschromia (staining of the enamel structure, often related to taking drugs during the formation of teeth) will be treated by other techniques, for example ceramic veneers.

Made by Dr. Clarisse Bonnet

Made by Dr. Clarisse Bonnet

HOW IS THE TREATMENT?

1st session: an impression of both jaws is made at the practice to make polyethylene gutters adapted to the dentition. The practitioner makes a “control photo” of your teeth that will assess the progressive effects of the treatment compared to the initial color.

2nd session: the trays are tested and adjusted, then given to the patient with a box containing gel syringes.

At home, the patient will apply the active gel inside the aligners and then insert them into the mouth for 2 hours a day at first and then all night.

The duration of the outpatient technique is usually 15 days. It can be extended up to 6 weeks depending on the initial shade of the teeth and the concentration of the lightening product. However, we can see a change in the color of the teeth from the third day of application.

3rd session: a check after the first 15 days of treatment will allow to judge the progress of the process of clarification, the interest to continue it or to put an end to it according to the desired result.

IMPORTANT: one of the advantages of outpatient whitening is the possibility of using the provided aligners again (for example after a subsequent descaling session, to give a boost to your teeth).

Lightening the teeth is not trivial. A prior and thorough consultation is necessary in all cases.

THE CASE OF DEVITALIZED TEETH

• There is a specific lightening technique to treat devitalized teeth that have darkened over time and are not yet too affected.
• A lightening gel can thus be inserted into the upper part of the tooth (the root having been previously protected by a composite insulation).
• After a while, the product will work until the blackened tooth finds the same shade as the neighboring teeth. At the end of this process, the gel will be removed and the tooth closed again.
• Subsequently, a global lightening is performed as described above in order to homogenize the overall hue of the teeth.

Good to know

After whitening, transient sensitivity of the teeth can sometimes appear and lasts about 48 hours.  A specific toothpaste is recommended to mitigate this side effect.

During the few weeks following bleaching, colouring drinks (tea, coffee, wine)