Nowadays, it is a cosmetic procedure brought about by people’s desire to have whiter and cleaner teeth.

There are two applications:

  • Teeth Whitening in the Office – Clinic
  • Teeth Whitening at Home

Is Pain Felt During Teeth Whitening?

  • During the teeth whitening process, no anesthesia is applied and no injections are made. Because the procedure is applied to the tooth enamel, since it is a procedure applied to the top layer of the teeth, there is no conduction system, so no pain is felt.
  • The only downside of the whitening process is that the patient’s mouth remains open for a long time. (at least 1 hour). Apart from this, the patient may feel coldness in his teeth due to heat and cold in his normal life. If this process continues, they must inform their physician. After fluoridation (intervention with a fluoride spoon) applied by the physician, this sensitivity disappears completely.
  • Our patients do not experience any pain or discomfort during the teeth whitening process.

How Long Does Teeth Whitening Last?

If we apply teeth whitening to a patient, our patient needs to pay close attention to their teeth in later life. You should avoid all negative behaviors that have already caused you to whiten your teeth. You can choose white wine instead of red wine. Apricot juice can be preferred instead of cherry juice. Apart from these, you should definitely reduce your tea and coffee intake. Or you should brush your teeth immediately afterwards. Frankly, even when we pour coffee or tea into the sink, it cannot be cleaned without pouring water on it. Since our teeth are more sensitive than our sink, and since many people do not brush their teeth or rinse them with water after drinking coffee, our teeth begin to discolour over time.

Apart from these, regular oral care is very important, we must brush our teeth at least twice for 3 minutes in the morning and evening.

If the patient takes care of their teeth after the whitening process, it takes 2 or 2.5 years for this whiteness to disappear.

Who Can Whiten Their Teeth?

There is no age limit for this process. Of course, it can be applied after the age of 12. However, if our patient has not completed most of his/her tooth development yet, it does not make sense to whiten his/her teeth.

  • However, if our patient wants to change the color of their teeth and feels psychologically uncomfortable, and as it is an aesthetic need, it is never something related to the patient’s health. No one (dentists) necessarily advocates that teeth should be whitened.
  • Although some patients’ teeth are white, that whiteness might feel yellow to some, so everyone is free to whiten their teeth.
  • However, whitening cannot be applied to patients whose tooth enamel is damaged and who grind or clench their teeth, as their dentin is exposed.
  • But, we can apply teeth whitening to all our patients with healthy tooth enamel.

Can Teeth Whitening Be Applied to All Kinds of Discolorations?

Teeth whitening is a very successful procedure, especially in cases of yellow discoloration.

However, in addition to yellow, teeth can also have a color close to gray and purple, and the treatment of such discolorations is different and more difficult than yellow discolorations.

Gray discolorations may occur as a result of root canal treatment, and in fact, the treatment of these discolorations is quite easy as it will be applied to only 1-2 teeth. However, if there is grayness or bruising throughout the teeth, the treatment process becomes difficult and therefore longer.

Who should do teeth whitening?

If you are considering teeth whitening, you should definitely consult a physician.

Whitening agents available on counter, purchased by patients themselves, sold in pharmacies, and whitening agents used by physicians are only effective on enamel. (Enamel is the layer that covers the top of the teeth).

If you apply whitening agent to the layer under the enamel, called dentin, which is very close and sensitive to the nerves, you may experience serious problems.

This layer may appear when the patient’s tooth is worn away, meaning the patient’s tooth may not have enamel. Patients may not be able to recognize the structure of enamel and dentin, and serious problems may arise when they apply whitening agents purchased from pharmacies. Likewise, even if this application is performed by a physician, serious health problems may occur. The treatment process of patients experiencing such problems may go as far as root canal treatment.

If there is discoloration on the teeth, the patient cannot remove it without harming themselves. Patients can only eliminate the risk of a discoloration;

  • By brushing your teeth very well,
  • By not consuming caffeinated drinks,
  • Cigarettes etc. not using tobacco products,
  • Excessive chlorine, fluorine, etc. You can have healthy and white teeth by staying away from the solutions found in drinking water.

Once discoloration occurs, treatment should only be started under the supervision of a professional.

 

How to Whiten Teeth? How to whiten teeth at home?

If you want to whiten your teeth, you should definitely consult an expert. When the right whitening method is chosen, the application does not harm the teeth.

There are two methods used for teeth whitening;

  • Teeth whitening at home
  • Teeth whitening in the office

The whitening process performed by the dentist gives instant results. It should be repeated within 1 week. Teeth whitening applications performed at home give results within 2 weeks.

In home whitening, our patient comes to our office, a suitable measurement is taken for our patient’s teeth, and the doctor makes a case according to those measurements. Our patient puts the medicine inside the case every evening before going to bed and places it on their teeth. They keep it on their teeth for a week until they falls asleep.

During whitening performed in the office, the patient remains with their mouth open for an average of 2 hours. A gel is also applied to their teeth, and an additional gel is applied to protect their gums. The physician applies treatment with or without radiation, and results are obtained in approximately 1 hour.