Over time, teeth can become externally stained or discolored due to foods, liquids and habits like smoking or tobacco use. Often, a professional cleaning can help with the discoloration, but sometimes the underlying tooth structure may have darkened. This is where whitening from a dental professional comes into play. There are 3 methods of whitening that we use in our office and one that is over the counter.
We have seen some cases over the years where for some reason, a patient’s teeth just don’t whiten well with any of the systems we’ve tried, and if that’s the case, then a physical dental restoration like a porcelain crown or a porcelain or composite veneer may be necessary to change the color of the tooth structure.
Over The Counter – There are a number of whitening systems that can be purchased from any store or pharmacy. The active ingredients in these systems are not as strong as what we can use in the dental industry, but they can be a good starting point for some people. Typically, the trays are not very form-fitting for the teeth as the systems are designed as a one-size-fits-all type of product, and the looseness of the trays can be frustrating.
The 3 methods that we use in our office are as follows.
The method we call our Good system is a universal one-size-fits-most tray that has a whitening gel inside of it. The trays are made by Ultradent and are their Go-Tray system. The gel comes in a 10% and 15% peroxide solution and comes in a mint or melon flavor. They can be a good professional starting place for whitening and a way of seeing if the patient’s teeth will accept a whitening solution.
The next method that we like to call our Better system is a custom-made tray that holds a whitening gel on the tooth either during the day or overnight. The whitening system we like is the Kor Bleaching system by Evolve Dental. A highly accurate impression is taken of the teeth that allows us to make a flexible plastic tray that fits over the teeth with a small reservoir space for the whitening gel. There is a day-time and a night-time solution.
The third level of whitening that we offer is what we call our Better system. It involves an in-office procedure where the teeth are isolated, a high-strength peroxide gel is placed on the teeth for usually 20 minutes, cleaned off, the gel is placed on the teeth again for another 20 minutes, cleaned off and then the gel is placed on the teeth once more. We recommend that the patient goes through the night-time tray system first to prepare the teeth for the high-strength gel procedure. We’ve found that if a patient tries to go straight to the high-strength procedure, the results are not near as good or as predictable.
KöR-Night™
Nighttime whitening is always more effective than daytime whitening. This option provides a great whitening result for the typical patient at the lowest cost.
Treatment: 2 weeks of at-home nighttime whitening with KöR-Night 16% carbamide peroxide; and periodic at-home maintenance.
KöR-Day™
This daytime at-home whitening system is for those patients who prefer not to wear, or are unable to wear KöR-Seal Whitening Trays during sleep. KöR-Day may also be used for the super-sensitive patient who can only tolerate wearing whitening trays for very short periods.
Treatment: 2 or more weeks of at-home daytime whitening once or twice a day with KöR-Day 9% hydrogen peroxide; and periodic at-home maintenance.
The third level of whitening that we offer is what we call our Better system. It involves an in-office procedure where the teeth are isolated, a high-strength peroxide gel is placed on the teeth for usually 20 minutes, cleaned off, the gel is placed on the teeth again for another 20 minutes, cleaned off and then the gel is placed on the teeth once more. We recommend that the patient goes through the night-time tray system first to prepare the teeth for the high-strength gel procedure. We’ve found that if a patient tries to go straight to the high-strength procedure, the results are not near as good or as predictable.
KöR-MAX™
Our best selling system, KöR MAX is a versatile and super-effective whitening system that combines at-home whitening with a single in-office whitening visit. This option provides the very best possible whitening result for the typical patient.
Treatment: 2 weeks of at-home nighttime whitening with KöR-Night 16% carbamide peroxide; a single in-office whitening visit utilizing KöR 34% Dual-Activated, Tri-Barrel Hydremide Peroxide gel, and periodic at-home maintenance.
For those really tough dark teeth cases, the Kor system has a couple of solutions as well.