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Your smile is the first feature that many people notice, so why not make it aesthetically pleasing? With take-home whitening kits dispensed by your dentist and Zoom whitening administered in the office, you can achieve a brighter, whiter smile you have always desired. Your life style and the aging process can stain and darken your teeth. Whitening treatments are designed to get your smile looking its best, having effectively restored the smile of people with stained, dull, or discolored teeth. What Causes Stains? Food particles are naturally attracted to a tooth's enamel by a certain protein. Products like coffee and tea, berries and soy sauce are notorious for staining teeth. Over time, teeth become more absorbent and vulnerable to staining from food and other substances. There is a direct correlation between your age and tooth color. As a result of wear and tear, your teeth begin to darken. Teenagers appear to experience immediate, dramatic results from whitening because as people reach their twenties, the teeth begin to show a yellow cast, which requires more effort for whitening. If your teeth are opaque and thick, you have an advantage because they appear lighter in color, show more sparkle and are more responsive to bleaching. Teeth that are thinner and more transparent have less of the pigment that is necessary for bleaching. Other sources for staining include: • Eating habits
• Smoking habits
• Drugs/chemicals
• Grinding
• Trauma Zoom Whitening Zoom is a bleaching process that is widely used around the world to lighten discoloration of enamel and dentin. The complete Zoom whitening procedure takes approximately an hour, but a regular teeth cleaning is recommended before your treatment can begin. Your dentist will begin by covering your lips and gums, leaving only the teeth exposed. Next, the Zoom hydrogen peroxide whitening gel will be applied, which works together with the Zoom light to penetrate the teeth and break up the stains and discoloration. The gel will remain in place for approximately 15 minutes while the light is activated. During this time you can relax and watch TV in your treatment room. The Zoom gel will be applied for three 15 minute sessions of light activation to give you the smile you desire. Once the sessions are complete, a sensitivity-reducing fluoride paste-gel is applied to your teeth to lessen or eliminate tooth sensitivity.
Take-Home Whitening Kits
When used as directed, dentist-dispensed whitening trays and strips can produce dramatically whiter teeth over the course of treatment. The key reason to at-home whitening success is their ongoing use and the fact that only small amounts of bleach remain within the tooth structure for up to 36 hours. When a new dose of bleach is applied to a tooth that is retaining the previous day's peroxide, the effect is greater. Even though you can get over-the-counter whiteners without a dentist's recommendation, if you over-use them or use them incorrectly, they can harm your tooth enamel and irritate your gum tissue. Over-bleaching can also produce an undesirable bluish hue, chalky whiteness, or uneven results. Supervision by your dentist can help prevent these problems. Teeth whitening results are subjective, varying considerably from person to person. Before beginning your whitening process, consult your Little Neck orthodontist for a realistic idea of the results you are likely to achieve and how long it should take to achieve them. Your expectations play a significant role in the teeth whitening process.
Sean Hartmen writes for leading Little Neck pediatric dentist, Dr. David Choi. Working alongside Dr. Choi are Dr. Bo Yun and Dr. Sung Yun, orthodontists in Little Neck. Together they provide orthodontic and pediatric care for patients in the Little Neck area.
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