What is Teeth Whitening?

Teeth whitening is the process of removing discolouration from teeth caused by food & drink, tobacco and also comes naturally with aging. There is a lot of information about teeth whitening, discolouration causes and treatment, but we’re here to help and share all we can!

Who Would Benefit From Whitening?

Your smile is one of the first impressions that you can make on another person – but if you are not confident in your smile or the appearance of your teeth it can be hard to put your best and brightest smile forward. One of the biggest factors in being less confident in your pearly whites is when they are not quite as bright and white as you would like them to be.

Stains on your teeth can be caused from a number of different factors and can come from either extrinsic or intrinsic causes. Extrinsic stains can occur from various things like food (such as balsamic vinegar, soy sauce or various curries), beverages (such as cola, tea, coffee or red wine) or smoking.

Intrinsic stains are from within the tooth and can be caused due to things like exposure to certain medications (like tetracycline) during tooth formation, darkening following root canal therapy, or necrotic teeth.

It is important to determine if the cause of your stained teeth is either extrinsic or intrinsic as this determines the treatment options that will work for you and your teeth.

Extrinsic staining is a perfect candidate for tooth whitening, helping to remove the stains built up on your teeth and returning them to their original, pearly white states. While anyone can undergo tooth whitening if their teeth are stained via extrinsic methods, it does work better on stains that are yellow as opposed to grey.

If you are facing intrinsic staining or colouration to your teeth, unfortunately teeth whitening is not the solution for you and your teeth. Instead, you can look at options to improve the colour of your teeth through crowns or veneers, or internal bleaching (following a root canal treatment).

If you are facing stained teeth and looking for a solution, speak to one of our many highly trained professionals to discuss what option would best suit your needs.

What does aftercare look like?

After you’ve been through the process of whitening your teeth, you will want to take steps to ensure that your new bright, white smile stays that way for as long as possible. To help, avoid tooth staining food and beverages as much as possible, especially for the first 24 hours after your treatment. If you do partake in tooth staining food or drink, try your best to be able to brush your teeth as soon as possible, removing the staining agents from your teeth as quickly as you can.

As time goes on however, due to the natural aging process of your teeth and more exposure to stain causes elements, your teeth will slowly start to yellow or stain once again. To combat this, we offer 3 years of bleach refills at material cost to you, in order for you to be able to affordably keep your teeth touched up and keep smiling.

Teeth Bleaching Trays

Fairhaven Dental makes bleaching trays custom fit to your teeth for at home bleaching. Benefits of custom bleach trays: even distribution of material, protection of soft tissue from bleach materials, convenient use at home.

Pola Advanced Tooth Whitening System

Tooth sensitivity can be a side effect of whitening. For those with sensitivity, we may recommend the use of Pola Night whitening solution as its active ingredient Carbamide Peroxide is slower acting and gentler than Pola Day, which uses Hydrogen Peroxide.