Don't Let a Missing Tooth Hold You Back in Life

Laser Teeth Whitening: What To Expect

by Wyatt Morgan

There are several teeth whitening procedures dentists can offer their patients now. Aside from treatments that may take several hours or treatments that gradually whiten to produce results that other people cannot easily detect, there is a treatment that uses lasers too. This particular treatment produces lightning fast results. Here is what to expect.

The Dentist Applies the Peroxide Gel

A safe and effective peroxide-based gel is applied to your teeth. It is the same gel used in most other teeth whitening procedures, so you do not have to worry about the potency or efficacy. Rather than sit in the dental chair for an hour or more with the gel on your teeth, your dentist keeps your mouth open and keeps your cheeks and lips from touching the teeth with special dental devices. Then he or she applies the laser.

The Dentist Applies the Laser

With the special dental laser switched on, your dentist guides the laser over every tooth and every surface of every tooth that is visible when you smile. The laser provides a heat reaction to the peroxide, speeding up the peroxide's whitening abilities. It encourages the peroxide to "bleach" your teeth faster while also encouraging the peroxide to reach deeper into the enamel of your teeth to destroy years of discoloration. The laser has to be guided slowly and carefully across the teeth, each tooth receiving the same amount of time needed to activate the rapid whitening properties of the peroxide gel when it is combined with a "hot" laser.

The Dentist Rinses Your Mouth with Fluoridated Water

Usually after you have had the laser teeth whitening process, your dentist will rinse your mouth out with fluoridated water. This type of dental water removes the remaining peroxide gel, which you will have to spit out or the dentist will suction out because you should not swallow it. It also adds a mild amount of fluoride to fill in the microscopic spaces that are sometimes left by the whitening process. In so doing, it strengthens your teeth after making them their whitest. If you would prefer, the dentist can just use unfluoridated water to rinse, and then use a fluoride treatment gel that is applied via bite trays and then rinsed off.

Return Visits

If you want your teeth to stay as white as they are after the laser whitening process, your dentist will instruct you on preventive measures. Otherwise, you may have to return at regular intervals for "maintenance" sessions to keep your teeth this white. Since the effects are quite noticeable and very dramatic, reverting back to their former color when you ignore preventive care is equally as noticeable and dramatic. Return visits for this procedure often come out of your own pocket, which means they can get quite expensive. You may want to choose a less dramatic procedure if you cannot follow preventive care measures.  

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