3 Reasons It’s Better to Get Teeth Whitening from a Cosmetic Dentist

Everybody wants a bright, white smile. It’s the best introduction, and the thing that’s most likely to get you remembered. But it’s not always easy to maintain a bright white smile, especially if you love staining foods and drinks like chocolate, berries, coffee, and red wine. (And everybody loves something on that list!)

Because there are so many teeth whitening products advertised out there, you might think that you can easily whiten your teeth at home. But there are three good reasons why you should get your whitening done by a cosmetic dentist.

Find Out If Your Teeth Are Healthy for Whitening

It’ important to make sure your teeth are healthy before starting whitening. Although teeth whitening is safe for healthy teeth and gums, it can contribute to problems with damaged or diseased teeth and gums. You can cause your teeth to hurt, accelerate decay, or experience receding gums if you use teeth whitening when your mouth isn’t healthy. And if your mouth isn’t healthy, you may not get good results from teeth whitening.

So it’s best to get a checkup and talk to your dentist at a bare minimum before trying teeth whitening at home.

Find Out If Whitening Will Work for You

Not all discolored teeth will respond to teeth whitening. In many cases, any kind of teeth whitening will be just a waste of time and money.

Teeth whitening works on stains that come from outside the tooth, from food, beverages, and cigarettes. The teeth whitening won’t work if there are internal reasons why your teeth are discolored.

Many of these are health-related. If you have cavities, for example, it can actually discolor the entire tooth. Especially if the tooth has become infected and needs root canal therapy.

Sometimes even an old filling can discolor your tooth. Sometimes removing the amalgam and replacing it with a tooth-colored filling is enough, but other times the tooth itself may be discolored.

Trauma can discolor teeth, too. And in that case teeth whitening won’t work, either.

And if your teeth are eroded because of acidic foods and beverages or GERD, teeth whitening can just make things worse.

If teeth whitening won’t work for your teeth, a cosmetic dentist can propose other solutions that will give you the results you want. Porcelain veneers or dental crowns are always effective at whitening teeth–and you can achieve whatever brightness level you want.

Get Better Results

Store-bought teeth whitening products work. But they only work a little bit. Because they’re designed to be used without supervision by a dentist, the whiteners in them are weak to help make them safe.

Plus it can be hard to manage the trays, strips, or swabs to get the best effect without irritating your gums. Many people who do home whitening only whiten part of their teeth, which makes some parts of your teeth whiter than others–and that doesn’t look good.

We use the best approaches to whitening your teeth. Our strong whiteners can remove the toughest of stains, and we make sure we whiten your teeth uniformly so your smile looks good.

We even offer teeth bleaching. This stronger form of whitening can get rid of some of the toughest stains on teeth–such as staining related to tetracycline antibiotics. And it can help blend in white spots on teeth caused by fluorosis or traditional braces.

The Best Whitening Is at the Dentist

If you are looking to get the best teeth whitening in Tulsa, then you need to talk to your dentist. To learn more about your teeth whitening options, please call (918) 528-3330 today for an appointment with cosmetic dentist Dr. Hodges at élan Tulsa Cosmetic Dentistry.