Dental bleaching

Dental bleaching is used to clear the internal color of the teeth in order to make them shine and a more attractive sheen.

Preliminary consultation

During the consultation, you and your dentist discuss about possibility of bleaching. The dentist will give you a preliminary oral assessment to rule out some contra-indications such as the presence of caries, leaking fillings or gingival inflammation.

Scaling and polishing of the dental arches are essential before the bleaching treatment can start.

You should know that dental bleaching may not be effective in severe cases of discoloration (severe intrinsic discoloration induced by medications during the formation of teeth). Under such circumstances veneering is the treatment of choice..

There are different bleaching methods, including:

In-office bleaching: You are expected to sit in a chair for 1 or 2 sessions of 30 to 60 minutes. The dentist will cover your gums to protect them from whitening gel which is applied to the enamel of your teeth and activated by a UV lamp.

Various factors can affect the color of your teeth, including lifestyle (drinking coffee or tea, tobacco ...), certain medications, aging. Chair-side bleaching is the answer to your discolored teeth.

When teeth scaling doesn’t help to restore your dazzling smile, then cosmetic dentistry – in-office bleaching – is applied to lighten the color of the enamel and dentin utilizing whitening gel.

The result is immediate and remains visible for 4-5 years (on average). However how long the result lasts depends on your lifestyle (lowering consumption of dark and nicotine containing drinks and foods, etc.).

Brushing your teeth twice daily and seeing your dentist at least once per year for deep cleaning are recommended to maintain the teeth’s whiteness.

Bleaching doesn’t work with synthetic materials (resin, porcelain). The result can be different from one patient to another.

At-home bleaching:

Impression of both jaws is performed to develop plastic gutters adjusted to your teeth.

Your dentist will give you a box containing whitening gel syringes. You apply the gel coat to the inside of the gutter and then insert the gutter in the mouth for 30 to 60 minutes a day. The duration of this "at-home procedure" is usually 15 days. The positive result can be seen on the second day.

The advantage of home bleaching is that you may reuse the gutter six months later. Having scaling and polishing done before the procedure is required.

However, this procedure gives slow and less effective result.

For root canal treated teeth that have blackened over time (at light level), a special bleaching method is applied. After protecting the lower part of the inside of the tooth roots with a root cap, your dentist will apply bleaching gel to the rest of the upper part of the teeth. The gel coat is left inside for a few days to a few weeks. It will be removed when the treated teeth have the same color as the adjacent ones.

If you have any questions or want to book an appointment with our doctors, please contact us at (84-24) 3577 1100 or send us an inquiry here.