Dental tips on Brightening your Teeth

Common sense and science tell us that a bright, healthy smile is one of the best ways to make a lasting impression.

According to the American Academy of Periodontology, half of us report that a smile is the thing we most notice about another person.

And studies show that attractive smiles are associated with greater success in social life, professional life, and love.

This reality explains why, at A Plus Dental, the most common cosmetic procedure we answer questions about is teeth whitening.

And we have two sets of answers – what we can do to whiten your teeth and what you can do to keep them whiter.

Let’s take a look at both topics, beginning with what you can do to defend the bright shade of your teeth!

What can you do?

Keep your teeth white by understanding what stains them and what you can do to prevent that.

There are two categories of tooth staining:

• Extrinsic staining. These stains on the tooth surface are usually caused by smoking, poor oral hygiene, smoking, and consumption of red wine, tea, coffee or other staining foods.
• Intrinsic staining. These internal stains usually result from trauma, excessive fluoride exposure while teeth are developing or some medications.

Cutting down your risk of yellowing/staining

Foods and beverages

• Rinse your mouth with water after eating or snacking.
• Chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production and wash away staining foods.
• Use mildly abrasive toothpaste on superficial stains. Be aware that abrasives can harm enamel
• Brush twice daily and floss once to reduce plaque-forming bacteria in your mouth.
• Have your teeth cleaned regularly at A Plus Dental – we recommend twice a year. These treatments eliminate dental plaque/bacteria, calculus/hardened tartar, and surface stains.

Age

As we age, the enamel that protects the tooth becomes thinner, allowing the dentin to show through. These intrinsic causes of discolouration combined with extrinsic causes such as the effects of certain foods, beverages, and tobacco, will cause most adults’ teeth to discolour with age.

This yellowing will occur, but it can be managed.

• Don’t use a hard toothbrush and don’t “scrub” the tooth surface while brushing.

Trauma

If you’ve experienced any dental trauma, there’s a chance your tooth could become discoloured.

When your teeth are damaged or injured in any way, the dentin becomes discoloured with blood. This happens much like a bruise, as your tooth is bleeding internally after the injury.

This is managed through careful behaviour:

• Choose (if possible) medications without staining as a side effect.
• Monitor the fluoride intake of your children.
• Wear a mouthguard during sports and protective splint if you grind your teeth.

How A Plus Dental treats Stained or Discoloured teeth

Whitening strategies

A ‘partnership’ strategy is to have regular checkups and cleans at A Plus Dental.

But we also have some very effective treatments to increase tooth whiteness, including chemical whitening and cosmetic dentistry, primarily veneers.

A Plus Dental offers three different whitening solutions; two bleaching solutions and porcelain veneers.

In-chair whitening is fast and effective, taking only one visit. It uses whitening peroxide, activated by shining a special light, and treatment is completed within two hours.

A Plus Dental also offers Zoom Teeth Whitening, which uses a high strength peroxide gel activated by shining an LED light during a 1-hour treatment.

Both traditional in-chair and Zoom whitening can improve your teeth by up to 8 shades in one visit!

These procedures can be maintained and enhanced by at-home whitening or additional bleaching procedures.

At-home whitening uses custom-fitted bleaching trays. Once daily, you fill the trays with whitening gel and apply them for the recommended period.

This is repeated over a few weeks.

While at-home whitening might not seem as convenient as in-office whitening, it does have three advantages:

• It places the patient in control, allowing them to determine how white teeth get.
• It is its own maintenance system – you can touch up your whitening whenever you wish.
• It allows sensitive patients to control their whitening procedure.

Be aware that filings and other dental appliances remain their original colour, and you should be careful to follow post-treatment recommendations or restaining can occur.

Are there any risks?

The main risk is sensitivity, which increases most for those with receding gums, failing restorations, or cracks cracked teeth.

There are gels and toothpaste available to deal with this, and it should only last a day or so.

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are wafer-thin porcelain caps cemented onto the face of your front teeth to achieve a pleasing result. They can be placed on one or all of your front teeth.

These are great in the case of untreatable stains or teeth that have stains and other cosmetic issues as well.

Veneers do require the removal of a little bit of natural tooth, but they can quickly give you a white, regular, stunning smile.

Teeth Whitening at A Plus Dental

Phillips Zoom Whitening at A Plus Dental

Dental Veneers at A Plus Dental

It All Adds Up with A Plus Dental!

A Plus Dental offers our patients trust, honesty, individuality, comfort, and compassion.

We give our Campbelltown area patients, from infants to seniors, caring, relaxing treatments in a comfortable environment.

When you choose A Plus Dental, you take the next step towards a beautiful, healthy smile with teeth that feel and look great in your mouth!

We have over 30 years of combined experience and treat each of our patients with the utmost care and respect.

Call your Campbelltown dentist at (02) 4627 3833 or book your appointment online today.

We are located at Suite 3/300 Queen Street in Campbelltown.