Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Dr. Ricardo S. Bocanegra, DDS –
Are you dreaming of a brighter new year? It is certainly the most wonderful time of the year, with a fresh start, new goals and resolutions – but you don’t want your smile to let you down.
Whether it is from drinking too much wine, tea or coffee – stains can build up on your teeth over time and cause your smile to lose its sparkle. With age, one of the first things to go is the freshness of your smile. At about thirty, tooth color begins to dim. There is a natural tendency for dentin- just beneath the enamel- to become yellow. If you smoke or overindulge in coffee or cola, darkening can be dramatic.
No doubt about it, we’re living longer and we’re living better. All that effort put into diet and exercise is paying off. And while you’re going through your paces on the treadmill, your smile might need a bit of improvement. But don’t despair, our teeth whitening systems can deliver white teeth on demand and help you keep them white for life.
Tooth-whitening systems take many forms. There are gels and solutions accelerated by light; the laser is used to “jump-start” the whitening process. Results can be subtle and take time to achieve a bright white smile, or they can be immediate- with a whiter smile with just one treatment. Professional teeth whitening options vary with either a one-time in-office visit (approximately one to two hours) or the at-home whitening system, which is a two-week process.
There are also many over-the-counter types of home bleaching products, but they do not have the whitening concentration that the professional products contain. There are also many over-the-counter whitening toothpastes available. These toothpastes contain mild abrasives that take off surface stains. They do not change the overall color or internal shade of your teeth, like the professional products dental offices provide.
Before beginning any whitening process, allow a dentist to examine your teeth and gum tissue to make sure they are healthy. You should complete any restorative work (your cavities must be taken care of first) before you whiten your teeth. If you become a candidate for tooth bleaching or whitening, your dentist will suggest which whitening procedures will be most effective for you and give you your options. In any case, the result is visible in days and, with touch-ups, can last for years.
So as the holiday season and new year approach, why not consider giving a gift that enhances your or someone else’s smile? A smile says a thousand words. … Why not make it a beautiful bright smile?
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