Bring out your best smile!
December 21st, 2010
Instead of having a one-hour in-office teeth whitening treatment, you can whiten your teeth at home using a store-bought product. Since teeth whitening has become so popular, the stores eagerly offer shelves of whitening strips, whitening toothpaste, whitening kits, and other such products. This is a situation of:
Caveat Emptor — Buyer Beware
- Do not use whitening toothpaste
To avoid it, you will have to search through the shelves to find one that does not say “whitening” on the box. So-called “whitening” toothpastes will actually yellow your teeth over time. They remove your tooth enamel as well as whatever is on it. Under the enamel is a yellow layer called the dentin and as your enamel becomes thinner, worn away by powdered metal or whatever other gritty ingredients are used, the dentin will show through more.
- Save your money and do not buy whitening kits
These kits are not customized to your mouth. The whitening gel may or may not be strong enough for effectiveness and it will certainly not be in close and even contact with your teeth. What are the chances that the generic trays they contain will fit snugly over your teeth? When the trays fit unevenly, you will have uneven results. When they are loose, saliva will get into them and dilute the whitening gel, making it less effective. Also, whitening gel will ooze out of them and you will be swallowing it.
- Whitening strips may help
Some people have moderate results from use of whitening strips. About a third of people who use these experience teeth sensitivity so it is best to start out with a weaker whitening gel such as six percent. You may also have gum irritation because the strips have straight edges, whereas your line of teeth has a scalloped edge. This means the strip will be against your gums in between each tooth. Again, you could try six percent strips or ten percent and see how it goes.
If you would rather not have an in-office teeth whitening procedure, Dr. Sands can provide a take-home kit for you with custom-made trays that will fit snugly. You can choose mild, moderate, or strong whitening gel and the kits contain a supply of desensitizing gel in case you do develop tooth sensitivity. You would also be welcome to contact us with any questions or problems.
To learn more about teeth whitening, please contact our Beverly Hills, California dental office today.
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November 23rd, 2010
Teeth whitening results, whether they are achieved at home or in a dental office, will last longer if you (a) practice good daily dental hygiene; (b) come in for professional cleanings at regular intervals; and (c) avoid pigmented foods and drinks.
In other words, to a large extent, you can control how long your teeth remain bright white. If you are a big coffee lover, or if you drink a glass or two of red wine each night with dinner, your chances are keeping white teeth are reduced. Anything that is strongly pigmented will contribute to tooth staining:
- Most berries
- Tobacco
- Many condiments such as ketchup and soy sauce
- Tea
- Cola drinks
If you do continue eating or drinking pigmented substances, you can remove much of the staining by brushing and flossing effectively each day. You might want to buy an electric toothbrush and some type of water pick to make sure that your daily cleaning is getting to all tooth surfaces.
Regular professional cleanings are important because most people cannot remove all the plaque that builds up hourly and what is left on the teeth will turn into tartar (calculus), which cannot be brushed or flossed away. Our dental hygienist can remove tartar and give you a fresh beginning for your home care.
If you would like to discuss teeth whitening options with Dr. Sands, please call or email our office today for a free consultation. We serve the Beverly Hills area in California.
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November 14th, 2010
Although we see many references to “laser teeth whitening”, in fact lasers are not used to directly whiten teeth. The professional teeth whitening choices are basically:
- In-office procedures lasting about an hour; or
- At-home kits with custom-made trays used in your own time.
The best-known in-office teeth whitening system is Zoom!®. They use a bleaching gel that is painted on the teeth (after the gums and other soft tissue is protected). Then a light, often referred to as a laser, is shone on the gel to speed up its work. Dr. Sands uses the Zoom!®. system and it has a blue light, not a laser.
What Actually Whitens Teeth is Oxygen
The bleaching agent in the gel is either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. As it soaks into the tooth enamel, it breaks down chemically and releases oxygen molecules into the teeth. Dark pigments have long chains and light pigments have short ones. The oxygen breaks up the long pigment chains, thus removing the dark color from the teeth. This is called oxidation.
Traditionally, some type of light has been used to activate or speed up this chemical breakdown process. This has become controversial, as many dentists say that the light does not actually do much. These lights can be halogen, plasma arc, or other types of light and they are all in the blue range. However, they are not lasers.
Dental Lasers For other Purposes
Lasers are used in modern dentistry, and there are two types used:
- Soft tissue lasers; and
- Hard tissue lasers.
Soft tissue lasers are effective in gum work, whether to treat a gummy smile or to remove decay and debris before a dental crown or white filling procedure.
Hard tissue lasers are less often used, but they can modify tooth enamel to slightly reshape a tooth. This might be done in neuromuscular dentistry to improve your bite or in cosmetic dentistry to enhance your smile. And of course it might be done for both purposes at once.
If you would like to know more about tooth whitening, please call or email us today for a free consultation. Dr. Sands offers top-quality dental services to the Beverly Hills, California area and we hope to meet with you soon.
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September 7th, 2010
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body, even harder than bone. It is also the most mineralized substance, being 96 percent inorganic minerals.
In thinking about minerals, the first thing to do is distinguish between organic and inorganic minerals.
- Organic minerals come from plants and give us nutrients
- Inorganic minerals come from rock, sand, crystals and the like and cannot be digested
We can and should eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables to get a good intake of organic minerals like sodium, iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
However, water is called the “universal solvent” for good reason – it can dissolve hosts of inorganic and undesirable salts (minerals) that will build up in the body. Most water supplies contain inorganic minerals that do nothing for our health. Imagine trying to eat a nail. It may be made of iron, an essential nutrient without which we become anemic and weak; but it is inorganic iron and can’t be processed by the body.
What does the body do with inorganic minerals from water?
Being unable to excrete them, it stores them somewhere, such as in or on the teeth. Our teeth contain organic calcium that strengthens the enamel but inorganic calcium simply helps to harden plaque into tartar. Enamel also contains inorganic phosphorous and other minerals. When we leave bacteria on the teeth, they create lactic acid that demineralizes the teeth – weakens the enamel. This is how caries form.
- Inorganic iron, lead, and other biologically unusable minerals also contribute to tartar and create brown/yellow staining. It cannot be brushed off but your dental hygienist can use special implements to get it off and restore much of your enamel whiteness.
- Inorganic fluoride can occur naturally in water supplies, and is also added to many for the sake of creating harder tooth enamel. A certain amount of fluoride is indeed beneficial to the teeth but too much causes either mottling or brown or white staining.
It is a good idea to have your tap water tested for its contents. If you know what is in it, you can take informed action to protect your general and dental health more effectively.
Please call or email our Beverly Hills, California dental office if you would like to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Sands.
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August 16th, 2010
The resemblance of tooth enamel and porcelain veneers is quite striking. They are both white with subtle variation in exact shade of white, and they both have that famous “pearly white” sheen because of being semi-translucent. This is one of the reasons why porcelain dental restorations are so popular – they are not identifiable as being restorations. They look like the teeth.
If you are thinking of having porcelain veneers, you might want to consider having a teeth whitening treatment first. Why is that?
One of the most valuable features of dental porcelain is its stain-resistance. It does not darken or yellow over the years like tooth enamel. The flip side of this advantage is that neither does it whiten in a tooth whitening procedure. It does not react chemically either to pigmented food and drink put in the mouth or to bleaching agents.
Dental porcelain comes in many shades. When you have any type of porcelain restoration done, Dr. Sands matches the porcelain color to your tooth enamel. If you were to have veneers placed first and then tooth whitening done, your teeth would change color, becoming brighter and whiter, and in contrast, your veneers would look darker or more yellow. They would keep their original shade and no longer match your teeth.
Planning your cosmetic dental work is done by discussing procedures with Dr. Sands ahead of time and determining together the best sequence.
If you would like to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Sands, please contact our dental office today. We serve residents of Beverly Hills in California and we hope to work with you soon.
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July 7th, 2010
The main cause of teeth darkening is pigments we put in our mouths. Many times a day we may drink pigmented fluids such as tea, coffee, red wine, cranberry juice, and cola drinks; and many times a day we eat pigmented foods such as blackberries, cherries, ketchup, and soy sauce.
Anything that stains the lips or tongue will also stain the teeth – even dyes added to popular treats like popsicles. These pigments cause yellow, brown or orange staining.
Tobacco use – Tobacco causes a yellow-brown staining on the teeth, just as it does in the skin. Quitting is the best thing to do, but of course, that can be very difficult for a person with an established habit.
Too much fluoride – this is sometimes a cause, especially in children. This condition is known as fluorosis. It can cause white streaks across the teeth but depending on the amount of fluoride, there can be brown stains. A child may be exposed to this danger, between fluoridated water, fluoridated toothpaste (that may often be swallowed by young children), and bottled juice and juice-flavored drinks made with fluoridated water.
Aging – the simple passage of time is also a cause of teeth staining. Over the years, our teeth become yellower and darker because the enamel layer becomes thinner from wear and tear. That allows the yellow dentin layer to show through the translucent enamel. As we age, the dentin itself becomes darker.
With excellent dental hygiene and a nutritious diet with fresh vegetables, we can remove or prevent much staining. Lettuce, broccoli, and spinach help to prevent tooth staining because they put a film on the teeth that acts as a barrier. Avoidance of commercial foods containing dyes will help.
Something to keep in mind is that tooth color is determined by genetics and some people naturally have whiter teeth than others. If you have a teeth whitening treatment, it may not be possible to make your teeth whiter than your genetics dictate. However, darkening caused by foods and drinks can certainly be corrected and most people who have a BriteSmile tooth whitening procedure at our Beverly Hills dental office leave after about an hour feeling quite euphoric about the dramatic improvement in their smile.
If you are in the Beverly Hills, California area, and would like a free consultation with Dr. Sands, please call or email our office today.
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June 16th, 2010
Welcome to the new blog for ToothWhiteningInBeverlyHills.com.
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