Are Pain Medications Ever Prescribed for Zoom Whitening Procedures?

The reason that the pain medication is not prescribed is that the pain, or intense sensitivity is experienced by only a few patients out of many, who undergo a zoom teeth whitening. And prescribing a strong pain medication to everybody "just in case" is not something that any doctor will ever sign his name under :).

And reason number two would be the extra pre-whitening appointment in order to prescribe it before the procedure so that the patient doesn't feel any pain during, as well as, after the procedure. So basically the answer to your question is that pain medication is not a necessity but a choice and that is why it is not the part of the process.

In case the patient experiences extreme sensitivity or pain after the procedure, he/she will be given a prescription.

THE #1 downside to getting your teeth whitened is the possibility of teeth sensitivity during and after the procedure. In our office, we cut no corners and use all Discus Dental recommended protocols for minimizing these "zingers." We have our patients begin brushting their teeth with Fluorodex toothpaste two weeks prior to their procedure. We then have them take 600mg of either Tylenol or Advil and insert their custom bleaching trays filled with ACP gel (a sedative) one hour before their scheduled appointment. During the procedure, we block out all of the interproximal spaces and the gums using a light cured barrier that seals to the teeth. Following the procedure, we have the patients reinsert their custom trays with more ACP gel and take over-the-counter meds as necessary. In our experience, we've never needed anything stronger than Tylenol or Advil. Those who, despite our best efforts, still have sensitivity following their appointment reporst that everything is back to normal the next morning. If your dentist is not following this protocol in its entirety, you may be more likely to experience discomfort. Good luck!

Discomfort when zooming your teeth is variable from patient to patient.  Some patients who have very sensitive teeth have none when whitening while patients who claim they have no sensitivity are unable to complete the 3 cycles of 15 minutes the pain is so bad.  For that reason we do not prescribe medication.  We provide out patients with 800mg Motrin at the beginning of treatment and also recommend that they use Sensodyne toothpaste 1-2 weeks prior to the whitening procedure.  That seems to help with the sensitivity with most patients. 

If your dentist has examined you first, and you are free of any caries & gum disease/recession, then as a precaution, you can take 400mg Ibuprofen 1 hour before the Zoom procedure, followed by another 400mg 4 hours later. Make sure you're not on an empty stomach when taking the meds. That should be enough to control any potential "zinger".

Usually, it is not necessary to prescribe pain medication for people who get the whitening procedure. However, for people who do have tooth sensitivity, there are a few things you can do to help reduce any discomfort. For the people who have sensitive teeth in my practice. I make sure we do a full exam and get some radiographs of all the teeth to check for cavities, areas of wear, or any other potential problem areas. Most patients want to get their teeth cleaned before they get their teeth whitened, that way we are whitening the teeth not areas of build up. This also helps us locate any potential sensitive spots. If there are areas of decay, you would want to restore those areas first before whitening to prevent "zingers". I also advise patients to brush with a sensitivity toothpaste, or fluoride, for at least two weeks prior to the whitening procedure. We have found this help cut down the sensitivity ( zingers) significantly. I also advised that the day of the whitening take an over the counter anti-inflammatory (NSAID),i.e. ibuprofen, Alleve, aspirin,........ We have found with these precautions this helps relieve the so called "Zingers". We have many people that do none of this, and have no issues with the whitening procedureat all.