Houston Teeth Whitening doctors

Typically, in office whitening procedures give you the best oppurtunity to whiten your teeth.  These procedures, such as Zoom Whitening, are shown to consitantly lighten teeth by 5-7 shades.  This being the case,  everyone does not obtain the same results with any bleaching procedure.  If your teeth are more on the gray side, you will not whiten very well.  These can be very difficult stains to remove.  Try using your bleaching trays for a week (1-2 hours at a time) and see if the results improve.  If you still are not pleased with the results the only other option for you to consider is porcelain veneers.  This is a much more costly procedure, but you have much more control over the desired color.  Good luck.

Professional trays for home use are your best option.  You can use these as often as your dentist recommends

based on the health of your teeth.  Not all home trays are the same, the soft ones allow the bleach to leak out and saliva comes in, so this decreases the effectiveness of the tray and you also ingest more solution.  We use hard trays that have a reservoir on the teeth to allow more solution to stay on the teeth and trim the tray back to the gumline.  The hard trays keep the solution in place.

With the increased popularity of teeth whitening over the past five years, the procedure is commonly being requested by the parents of children as young as eight years old.  What are the most frequently asked questions when requesting this procedure on children?

Q: What age is safe to begin the bleaching process in children?

A:  Bleaching is completely safe and there is no harmful damage to the enamel.  In my practice, I like to wait until the child has all of their permanent teeth erupted before whitening.  Typically, all of these have erupted by 11 or 12 years of age.  That being said, I would have no problem whitening the teeth of a child as young as eight years old if they were self conscience due to the comments of other kids at school about the color of their teeth.  

Q:  Can I use over -the -counter products to whiten my child's teeth?

A:   Teeth whitening should always be performed by a dentist whether it is "laser whitening" or the use of bleaching trays.  These procedures are technique sensitive and when not performed correctly can cause irritation of the gums that can be quite painful. 

Q:  Will the teeth be sensitive after whitening?

A:  Most of the time the patient will have sensitivity when doing ”laser whitening" for 8-10 hours following the procedure.  There is not as much sensitivity when using bleaching trays alone, but the results are not as drastic. The underlying nerves in the teeth of children are larger than adults.  This can cause increased teeth sensitivity in children for the first 24 hours following the procedure.    

 Q:  How much does teeth whitening cost and how long does it take?

A:  Zoom laser whitening or other similar products range from $400-800 depending on where you live and whether or not bleaching trays are included with the fee.  The procedure takes approximately two hours in the office.  Following this, the patient will be asked to use the trays for several nights for about an hour each time. 

The safety of bleaching in children has been proven to be safe and the results for some children can be life changing.  If you are wondering whether your child is a candidate for the procedure contact your dentist and ask for a consultation.  They will give you an honest answer that will allow you to make the best decision for your child.  Hope this helps!