I whitened my teeth a couple of years ago. Recently, I got in a bike accident that caused me to need a dental crown on a front tooth. I want to touch up my teeth to get them back to the white they were a couple of years ago. I asked my dentist how to go about that, for instance how long will I need to whiten each day and for how many days to get it back to shape. Also, will I need to wait between whitening and getting the crown? He wasn’t sure how to answer me so I’m left with the Internet. Do you have any advice for me?
Cathy
Dear Cathy,
Tooth bleaching trays
I’m a little surprised your dentist could not advise you and that is something we will be talking about in a moment. Only one of your questions has a cut and dry answer, but there are certainly general guidelines he could have given you.
When it comes to teeth whitening, everyone has a different “final color” they’re looking for. The general principle is to whiten until you reach that. You get there faster by whitening for longer periods of time each day. The fastest option is to wear them overnight until you are happy with the color. If you have senstive teeth, you may have to wear them less than that. You will still reach the whitening you want, it will just take longer.
The one definitive is that once you reach that level, you will want to wait a minimum of one week before choosing the color of your dental crown. This is because the whitening keeps releasing the oxygen for that amount of time so there will be some more mild whitening take place while that finishes off. With front teeth, you want an exact match.
This brings me to your dentist. If your dentist could not tell you these basic principles of teeth whitening. I have serious doubts that he can do a great job in matching your crown to your existing front tooth. I wonder if you shouldn’t look for an expert cosmetic dentist to do your crown. It’s up to you, but I’m not impressed by what I’ve heard thus far.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.