Professionally Whitening Teeth

During professional teeth whitening, a lip retractor gets inserted into your mouth to secure it in its opened position. The good ones allow you to bite down on the back section, which relaxes the jaw muscles. Next, the hygienist will cover the gum tissue with a paint-on rubber dam. The lips and inner cheek area are wiped with a muco-protectant gel. You won't be able to speak (nor should you really move your mouth) for the next few hours, so you should ask for a notepad and a pen with which to communicate. Should an area of the barrier become loosened and cause discomfort, you'd want to have the ability to alert the hygienist so she can quickly fix the problem and alleviate any discomfort.

Once the barrier is in place and firmly set, the bleaching can begin. The dentist or trained hygienist will then literally paint the peroxide gel onto each tooth with what looks like a small paintbrush. After all of the teeth are coated, he'll then aim the high-intensity light directly onto your teeth, leaving it there for about 20 minutes. When the light hits the peroxide, the oxygen within it transforms into free radical oxygen, making it "super excited". It dives into the tooth, penetrates beneath the enamel and attacks the color pigments. This oxidation procedure causes the pigments to vaporize within the dentin layer, allowing it to lighten the tooth from within.

The white light automatically turns off when the activating time is up. Then the hygienist removes the layer of bleach, and brushes on a fresh new coat. Since most professional treatments involve three to four rounds, expect to be open-mouthed, speechless, painted and lit for about two hours in total. On the off chance that we find that a patient's mouth starting to become sensitive, treatments will be cut down a round or two.