How Does Teeth Whitening Work?

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Laser Teeth Whitening Is Quick and Effective

Your smile says a lot about you. It is often one of the first things people notice about you, and it plays a part in helping others create a first impression of you. Unfortunately, many people are unhappy with their smile. In fact, more than half of Americans feel insecure about their teeth. They want to make changes to improve their smile.

Fortunately, there are plenty of cosmetic dentistry procedures people can choose from to help ease their insecurity. One such method happens to be teeth whitening. Teeth whitening continues to grow in popularity. Experts predict that the teeth whitening industry will reach as much as $7.4 billion by 2024.

A whole host of things can cause your teeth to stain or become discolored. Often, this staining causes your self-esteem to take a hit. After all, you may not know it, but your smile plays a large role in your mental health. It’s no wonder so many people make an effort to improve their smile.

Teeth whitening is a popular option to improve the look of your teeth, but how does it work? Is it safe? How long does it last? These are common questions many patients have about teeth whitening. Fortunately, it is a simple procedure.

If you feel self-conscious about the look of your teeth, do not worry. There are plenty of things you can do to improve your smile. Give Cosmetic & Family Dentistry of Las Colinas a call today to learn more about our teeth whitening services.

What Causes Staining and Discoloration?

As we mentioned earlier, plenty of things can stain your teeth. Over time, your teeth can lose their bright white color for a number of reasons. Some are things you consume, while others are lifestyle choices. Knowing what stains your teeth can help you prevent losing the brightness in your smile in the future.

Some of the most common causes of teeth staining include:

  • Food and Dr.inks: Certain drinks, such as coffee, tea, soda, and wine, contain components that attach to the enamel of your teeth, causing staining. Berries, chocolate, and sauces (soy sauce, tomato sauce, etc.) can stain your teeth, as well.
  • Tobacco Use: Smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco are not only cancer-causing, but they also threaten the health and safety of your mouth. Staining is just one of many problems tobacco products cause.
  • Age: As with all things, your teeth change with age. As you age, the enamel (hard white outer layer of your teeth) gets thinner. When the enamel begins to wear away, more of the darker dentin found below the enamel shows.
  • Trauma: Injuries may cause your teeth to change color over time. Depending on the injury, your tooth may react by laying down more dentin, which is noticeably darker than enamel.
  • Medications: Certain antihistamines, antipsychotics, high blood pressure medications, and more can all have a side effect that causes teeth staining.

As you can see, teeth staining is inevitable for most people. Thankfully, laser teeth whitening can help restore the brightness of your smile.

How Does It Work?

Stained, discolored, or yellow teeth are one of the biggest concerns most patients have. Naturally, people want a way to improve the way their smile looks by brightening it up. Laser teeth whitening is one of the safest and most effective ways of doing just that.

Laser teeth whitening is a cosmetic dental procedure that employs the use of lasers to in-office teeth whitening. Often, people confuse other teeth whitening procedures with laser whitening. However, many other techniques involve the use of light, not a laser. While they may share similar setups, they operate differently.

Like other whitening techniques that use light, laser whitening also uses a whitening gel. However, instead of using light, this procedure uses a laser. This laser activates chemicals in the gel that lead to teeth whitening.

What makes laser teeth whitening so popular? It takes just a fraction of the time to work. When using light, you often have to sit for over an hour. In those sessions, your teeth become sensitive after the treatment is over.

However, when it comes to laser teeth whitening, you can experience significantly whiter teeth in as short as 20 minutes! Additionally, other teeth whitening procedures require two to three visits, while you can experience brighter teeth in just one session using laser whitening.

In other procedures, such as bleaching, you have to wear a tray in your mouth for sometimes over an hour. Unlike laser whitening, you need to wear these trays in each visit to achieve the desired results that laser whitening gives you in one session. The laser not only speeds up the process but boosts the effectiveness.

Benefits of Laser Teeth Whitening

There are plenty of benefits to using laser teeth whitening to brighten your smile. While we have already touched on a few, it’s crucial that you understand the rest:

  • Reduced sensitivity
  • Much faster whitening compared to other in-office and out of office techniques
  • Fewer sessions required
  • Less heat required
  • No need to do any work from home
  • Highly effective
  • With a trained doctor, you reduce the risk of soft tissue burns or damage to the nerves in the teeth

Laser teeth whitening is often the most expensive form of teeth whitening. However, its benefits and effectiveness are more often than not worth it.

Also, these results are not permanent. You must continue to practice good oral hygiene to keep your teeth white. That means brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing daily, and avoiding the causes of teeth staining we mentioned earlier.

Millions of Americans feel insecure about their smiles. Often, stained, discolored, or yellow teeth are the top complaint many people have. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to correct this issue.

Laser teeth whitening is a quick and effective cosmetic procedure offered at Cosmetic & Family Dentistry of Las Colinas. All of the services offered at our dental clinic aim to help you achieve the smile you have always wanted. Give us a call today to learn more about our teeth whitening services.