When you are gearing up for a big event, a family or work gathering, a reunion, or even just a Zoom call with important customers, your smile helps represent your best self. That is if your smile is uncompromised. When you drink coffee, tea, juice, or other stain-inducing drinks or foods, you might be wishing you could find a quick and effective way to whiten your teeth.
Dental stains and discolorations can ruin your smile and impact your presence, attitude, and even life-changing conversations. But life is busy! And how can you remove years of stains from your teeth? Also, how often should you whiten your teeth once you get the process started?
Professional teeth whitening can be scheduled regularly with treatments in between visits or by asking for custom-fit teeth whitening trays to use very easily at home. Either way, there are some great options we’ll discuss to make a powerful and transformational impact on your smile!
Contact Alaska Dental Arts today for a consultation to learn how we can make your smile shine brighter than ever!
How Does Professional Whitening Work?
A professional dentist can perform in-office teeth whitening procedures that boost your smile much whiter and brighter than most other treatments. You can also ask for a home whitening treatment with a custom-fit mouth tray for regular whitening of your teeth at your convenience.
When you’ve already tried over-the-counter treatments that haven’t worked or are slow to progress your smile, then you may be considering a professional in-office solution. But you may be wondering how long your whitening may last. You may even be asking how often you should professionally whiten your teeth.
Let’s start with the process itself and how a professional whitening system can work.
The Professional Whitening Process:
To prepare your teeth for whitening, begin with professional dental cleaning, polishing, and any dental work that you need to take care of. You’ll want all plaque and concerns removed from your teeth before anything else happens. A healthy mouth and teeth are critical to address before progressing to a professional whitening treatment.
Then, you can talk with your dentist about the stains, discoloration, and concerns you have cosmetically. There’s a good chance that dark-colored drinks and foods that stain your teeth have affected the look of your teeth over time.
Another consideration is that many people that grew up in the tetracycline era – when this was a popular antibiotic treatment – already know that a grayish smile was often the result of overuse of this medication as a child. So here are two options for whitening teeth that will help:
2 Options for Whitening Your Teeth Professionally
There are two primary, cost-effective treatments for whitening your teeth professionally. You can seek an in-office laser teeth whitening service that will lift stains throughout your teeth with a professional whitening gel that is activated by a dental laser. Or, you may prefer a take-home whitening kit prepared by your dentist.
Both are viable solutions.
1) Professional Take-Home Teeth Whitening. Option that incorporates dental trays we can custom prepare to fit your teeth. You can apply a prescription-grade whitening agent to the trays and use them over your teeth to help reduce stains.
The advantage of this process is that there’s a quick boost in the whitening of your smile without all of the time and energy. The treatment takes about 45-minutes, and you can sit back and relax in the comfort of the dental chair without waiting for days on end for results.
2) Professional In-Office Laser Whitening Treatment. Once you’re set up for this process and the whitening gel is applied by your dentist, a special laser light activates the gel to release whitening agents that quickly reduce stains and discolorations from your teeth.
The benefit of this treatment is that after being fitted for a custom whitening tray– and that tray comes from your dentist– you can do your own treatments at a time convenient for you and in the total comfort of your own home.
The whitening agents from a leading dentist are much stronger than over-the-counter products you’ll find on the market. But how often should you whiten your teeth?
How Often Should You Whiten Your Teeth?
Professional teeth whitening offers a quicker and more convenient way to whiten your teeth without all of the hassles of over-the-counter options.
When considering effective whitening treatments, how often should a whitening procedure be performed? Most professional dentists recommend whitening your teeth professionally every six months to a year for a whiter, brighter smile. With a busy lifestyle, you can certainly use home treatments in the interim to keep up your beautiful smile. And you shouldn’t overdo it with treatments as you don’t want to cause sensitive gums or teeth.
Once your teeth are professionally whitened, to maintain your desired smile, you’ll want to powerfully protect your whitening with the following key steps.
Powerfully Protect Your White Smile
After a professional whitening session, be sure to:
- Avoid coffee, tobacco, juices, and food and drinks that will stain your teeth and cause a setback of discoloration.
- Prevent teeth sensitivity by steering clear of ice, cold drinks, and foods.
- Avoid piping hot foods and drinks, too, initially.
- Use anti-sensitive toothpaste.
- Limit acidic foods and drinks
- Essentially, stay away from anything that might stain your teeth.
- Use a straw for drinking any dark-colored drinks.
You should follow the above measures for at least the first few hours up to a few days after your treatment to preserve the effectiveness of your whitening. Limit your discomfort and keep your teeth as white as possible.
Seeking a Professional Whitening Service that Works
How often should you whiten your teeth? By selecting a professional dentist to take care of your in-office scheduled appointment or take-home teeth whitening treatments, you can boost your smile with ease every six months to a year. The key is a proper regimen of whitening, deep teeth cleaning, and maintaining a healthy, happy smile.
Another option to consider for those who are tired of regular whitening treatments and who want a more permanent solution is porcelain veneers. Alaska Dental Arts can help as your go-to cosmetic dentist for these important services.
A comprehensive dental service will offer the proper whitening treatments in the office and at home. Just like anything health-wise and cosmetic-wise that matters, professional teeth whitening may require touch-ups to keep that picture-worthy smile.
Alaska Dental Arts strives to ensure your best smile at all times with our professional teeth whitening treatment options–custom designed to fit your essential needs and lifestyle. And we are an ADA, premier, luxury dentist, without the luxury cost. We care about you, your teeth and happy smile, as well as your finances with a dental savings plan that works.
Contact Alaska Dental Arts today for a consultation to learn how we can make your smile shine brighter than ever!
