Can Olive Oil, Eggs, Brown Rice, or Oatmeal Stain Teeth if Eaten the Same Day of Xoom Bleaching?

Zoom  is an excellent technique but it can be very difficult for any one step procedure to reach the maximum color change possible. Some of my patients are happy with their  results. I give my patients custom made trays  to follow up and maintain their results at home. The repeated applications will usually exceed one visit results. All bleaching methods temporarily dehydrate teeth and make them look a bit whiter than they actually will be once normal hydration returns to the teeth post bleaching.

As for foods that stain teeth, I alway's tell my patients to avoid eating or drinking anything that can stain a white shirt. I ask them to hold off as long as they can. At minimun, 45 minutes to an hour.

Causes of Tooth Discoloration

Tooth discoloration can be caused by a number of factors. The most common include:

- Tea, coffee, wine and cola

- Smoking or chewing tobacco

- Poor brushing or flossing habits

- Aging teeth

I really doubt that the foods that you mentioned would have stained your teeth following your Zoom procedure.  We do ask patients to avoid things such as coffee, tea, red wines, and foods with artificial colorings for 48 hours following the procedure.  This allows for the teeth to rehydrate.  If your teeth are not as white as you would like you should bleach for a few nights with the bleaching trays that you should have been made at your Zoom appointment. Good luck.

Zoom bleaching is an excellent technique but it is very difficult for any one step procedure to reach the maximum color change possible.  Some patients are happy with Zoom results but many use trays to follow up and complete bleaching process.  The repeated applications will usually exceed one visit results.  All bleaching methods temporarily dehydrate teeth and make them look a bit whiter than they actually will be once normal hydration returns to the teeth post bleaching.

Not likely!  Foods to avoid after Zoom! bleaching are ones that would stain a white tee-shirt.  (Red sauces, soy sauce, Balsamic vinegar, tobacco, coffee, tea, berries etc).  If you think you could get whiter, ask your Dentist to fabricate take home bleaching trays so that you can continue to bleach at home.  This way you are sure to get the results you want. 

I have seen patients whose teeth fade slightly after bleaching (no matter how they bleached their teeth).  For those patients, I always stress the need to go a little whiter than they want their final color to be, as they will fade slightly over the first 24 hours.  This is rare, but maybe what happened to you.  Did you complete all 4 cycles during the Zoom?  I notice that it happens more to patients who halt the Zoom process early.   Good Luck.