Teeth Whitening Las Vegas

Teeth Whitening 101; What The Process Entails

Teeth-whitening is becoming a very common and popular cosmetic dental treatment in Las Vegas. It effectively helps lighten teeth complexion and remove stains from the surface of the teeth. It can also eliminate discoloration and re-store the natural white color of the teeth.

Quite evidently, it helps improve the overall health and appearance of the teeth, which in turn helps improve the overall appearance of an individual. Hence, it is a procedure that can greatly influence the life of a person.

People in Las Vegas, being looks-conscious as they are, often seek cosmetic dentists to enhance their teeth. And when it comes to teeth whitening Las Vegas has many options in terms of cosmetic doctors and clinics to serve patients.

If you are prospective seeker of teeth whitening services, it would be worthwhile to know what the process entails and whether you are eligible for it.

Hence here is a breakdown of the procedure and the eligibility criteria for the procedure.

Conditions that can be cured with teeth whitening

Your teeth have an outer layer called the enamel. It is when light reflects off the enamel and scatters that we see the white color of the teeth. The lower layer of the teeth called dentin is also white in color, which precisely provides the general white color to the teeth. However, not everyone’s teeth are pure white in color. The complexion largely depends on the genetic composition of the teeth, along with the texture and smoothness of the enamel. If the enamel is thinner, it generally allows more of the white color of the dentin underneath to be visible. Additionally, the smooth texture of the enamel can also cause more light to be reflected off the surface.

Besides these factors, your teeth also have pores on them just like your skin, which further causes stains to get retained on the surface resulting in discoloration. On top of that your teeth also develop an outer thin coating called pellicle over the enamel with time, which again acts as a retainer of stains.

Ageing can further cause damage to your teeth. With age the enamel gets much thinner and the dentin underneath gets darker.

Due to all these factors, your teeth appear discolored and stained over time. And it is in these conditions that you can seek teeth whitening treatment.

However stains can be both extrinsic or external and intrinsic or internal. Teeth-whitening generally caters mostly to extrinsic stains that appear on the surface of the teeth. These stains can be caused due to a number of factors such as:

- Smoking or consumption of tobacco in any other form

- Consumption of heavily colored items like coffee, tea, wine etc.

- Lack of proper oral hygiene

If you have discolored teeth resulting from any of the above mentioned causes, then you can avail teeth whitening treatment.

However, if you have other oral issues such as gum diseases, you may not be able to take the treatment. Cosmetic dentists will conduct a thorough check-up of the patient’s teeth before carrying out the procedures so as to ensure that there are no further complications.

The process

Dr. Richard Racanelli of Stunning Smiles of Las Vegas, one of the most experienced doctors in teeth whitening Las Vegas often gets patients who like to know more about the treatment before deciding on getting it. Similarly there may be many more people who would want to hear more about what goes on during a teeth-whitening treatment. To ask Dr. Racanelli a question about Teeth Whitening, click here.

So here is a brief breakdown of the procedure:

Teeth-whitening is usually not a one-time procedure. You may need to get subsequent treatments with time in order to maintain the brightness at all times.

- The first step in the process is definitely preparation of the teeth. It involves thorough cleaning of the teeth to remove food particles, bacteria, tartar build-up, plaque and other substances. It also involves treatment of any cavities as it can cause problems when applying the whitening solution to the surface of the teeth. This step may take long depending on the existing condition of the teeth. If you have a lot of issues to be treated before whitening, then the preparation process may get extended.

- Once the preparation is done, the whitening procedure begins. It can be either be in-office or at-home. For at-home whitening, you doctor may provide you with the tray and the whitening gel to be used along with clear instructions on how to use them. You need to strictly keep to the regulations mentioned by your doctor and not overuse it, as it can have very bad implications.

- In-office or in-clinic whitening uses a more powerful whitening gel, along with a specifically designed gentle laser or light treatment that further re-enforces the bleaching process. The gel will be applied only after the application of a protective layer around the gums. In usual cases, the entire process will need about 1 to 3 appointments, each lasting about 30 to 90 minutes. The duration and treatment time depends on the severity of the discoloration and the response of the stains to the whitening procedure.

- Additionally, whitening (2) can be done on teeth that have live nerves and also on teeth that have had a root canal treatment done on them. The former is called vital whitening and the latter is called non-vital whitening.

Vital whitening is the most commonly sought type and it is the one that uses a whitening gel (1) to be applied on the surface of the teeth. For non-vital whitening a different procedure is followed as the staining is from the inside of the teeth and hence needs to be targeted from there.

That covers the basic steps in the procedure. It should be noted that whitening does not work on dental veneers or crowns that you may have on your teeth.

To find out what your teeth condition is and to determine what your options are, consult a cosmetic dentist specialized in teeth whitening Las Vegas, such as Dr. Richard Racanelli right away and attain beautiful “pearly whites”.