Even individuals with straight teeth and beautiful smiles can be plagued with problems they may feel like they have little control over: stained and discolored teeth. The main culprits responsible for discolored teeth include agents that intermingle with your tooth enamel, from red wine to coffee and tobacco.
Fortunately, teeth whitening treatment options exist that are truly transformational. Dr. Wayne Hickory and the Embassy Row Orthodontics team are skilled in providing treatment for discolored teeth and restoring them to that bright, pearly hue we all prize.
Dr. Hickory and his team are dedicated to providing you with every service possible to support the health and beauty of your smile.
Unfortunately, you can notice your teeth have yellowed even if you don’t indulge in black coffee, smoking, wine, or juices derived from dark berries. Many don’t realize that tooth yellowing is also a natural, albeit welcome part of getting older.
What happens is that the dentin of your teeth, which is underneath your enamel, yellows as your enamel thins, and it becomes increasingly visible.
Additional reasons why your teeth are discolored include:
While it may sound minor, tooth discoloration can really have a negative effect on your smile — and your self-esteem. A bright, white smile is emblematic of health and vitality.
At Embassy Row Orthodontics, we often recommend teeth whitening to complement your orthodontic treatment with standard braces, InvisalignⓇ, lingual (behind the teeth) braces, and clear braces.
After all, why go to the time, expense, and trouble of getting orthodontic treatment when your adjusted smile, unveiled, is dark or mottled? We often encourage patients considering teeth whitening to get treatment after their orthodontic treatment plan is completed.
Typically, our patients credit teeth whitening with being the ideal finishing touch after their orthodontic treatment. If you have a smile that’s both in alignment and bright and white, you can feel more confident when meeting new people.
Even though whitening results aren’t permanent, they’re consistently successful. Treatments are also budget-friendly, a welcome advantage!
In addition to buoying your confidence and emotional health, teeth whitening treatments clear the “bad elements” from your tooth enamel, thereby strengthening your smile.
The whitening system that we’ve chosen is the Philips Zoom WhiteSpeed platform, which enables your teeth to whiten dramatically, up to eight shades. That’s pretty impressive for a completely nonsurgical option.
When you have a WhiteSpeed treatment, Dr. Hickory usually has you undergo three in-office bleaching sessions that last for 15 minutes each. They’re not lengthy, but they’re definitely effective. This is because each treatment involves the application of a powerful but safe hydrogen peroxide gel to your teeth.
When the gel is on your teeth, Dr. Hickory administers potent LED light to your tooth surfaces as well. This energizes and speeds up bleaching.
Not unlike using Invisalign, you’re then instructed to incorporate a home whitening treatment into your routine that comes with whitening trays, along with ReliefⓇ ACP Oral Care gel, which dramatically reduces tooth pain and reactivity.
Even though professional teeth whitening isn’t a permanent solution to stains, your smile stays lovely when you keep up with treatments on a regular basis.
We encourage you to contact our easily accessible Bethesda office to learn more about whether teeth whitening might be right for you, or you can schedule an appointment online.
