Whitening
Dr. Graves offers multiple options for brightening your smile. Teeth whitening, or bleaching, is one of the most popular areas of cosmetic dentistry. Even subtle changes in shade can make someone look years younger. Several factors can contribute to the darkening of teeth, including the effects of age, certain foods and drinks, smoking, and medications.
Because having whiter teeth has now become the number one esthetic concern of most patients, there are a number of ways to whiten teeth. Since teeth whitening only works on natural tooth enamel, it is important to evaluate whether any old fillings or crowns will need to be replaced. Replacement of any restorations will be done after bleaching so they will match the newly whitened teeth.
IN OFFICE WHITENING Our in office whitening provides a fast, safe way to whiten your teeth in just one visit. During the procedure, we apply a whitening agent is directly to the teeth and then use a special light to speed up the whitening process. This process can be done in just one visit and dramatic results are often seen right away!
TRAY BASED TOOTH WHITENERS For a more economical solution, we can create custom trays for you to use to whiten your teeth at home, over time. The trays are similar to a mouthguard, that you may fill with a professional strength bleaching agent. The tray is worn for a period of time, generally from a couple of hours a day to overnight for up to two weeks or longer (depending on the degree of discoloration and desired level of whitening).
AT HOME WHITENING VS. TEETH WHITENING BY DENTISTS While the many teeth whitening products available at your local pharmacy offer a certain degree of convenience, they are not likely to offer you the results that you are hoping to achieve. Over the counter and dentist supervised at home products usually contain a lower strength bleaching agent. This means that it will take far more time to achieve results and, in many cases, it is not possible to achieve the same level of whitening with these over the counter products. In addition, some whitening products can be irritating to the gums and soft tissues. At home whitening treatments do not take measures to protect these tissues from irritation. When you chose in-office teeth whitening, we will apply protective gels to the gums and soft tissues or use a special shield to protect your mouth from the effects of bleaching.