Laser Teeth Whitening – Advantages, Disadvantages, and More

Laser Teeth Whitening

Laser teeth whitening is undeniably the fastest and most effective way to achieve white teeth.

The laser light is castoff to activate the whitening gel that absorbs the light energy and penetrates the teeth’ enamel to increase the whitening effect.

What is laser teeth whitening?

• Laser teeth whitening is based on the use of the lamp in the clinic to enhance the whitening agent’s action.
• Nowadays, professionals prefer to opt instead for photoactivation tooth whitening – or cold light lamp.
• However, the procedure that dentists follow in both systems is very similar.
• The change between the two lies in the light source that is applying in the lamp session.
• Here the main advantage of photoactivation teeth whitening is that it uses an LED light that causes less tooth sensitivity discomfort.

Step-by-step photoactivation teeth whitening:

• Specialists never tire of emphasizing this: teeth whitening is a dental treatment and, as such, must be supervised by a specialist.
• For this reason, if you want to improve the aesthetics of your smile with teeth whitening.
• Here primary step you must take is to go for an oral check-up by a dentist. And is that teeth whitening is discouraged as long as your mouth is not healthy.
• For this reason, periodontal disease -periodontitis or gingivitis- or other oral conditions. Such as tooth decay or fractures should be treated first.
• Once the different healing treatments have been carrying out, the teeth whitening procedure can begin.
• First, a professional oral cleaning -or prophylaxis- will be performed.
• In this way, we will effectively eliminate all the tartar and accumulation of bacteria from the mouth.
• And we can perform the session with a lamp in a sanitized mouth. Later, the patient will attend the lamp session at the clinic.
• During it, the specialist will take a series of photographs that will serve as initial records. In this way, you can know the color of the enamel before starting the treatment.
• He will then place some spacers in the patient’s mouth and isolate the gums by using a polymerizing gel.
• This protection is of great importance since the bleaching agent’s contact with the mucosa can lead to abrasions and irritations in it.
• Here whitening agent will then be placed on the tooth surface, and the cold light lamp will be positioned appropriately for two cycles of 10 minutes each.
• After this time, the dental surfaces will be carefully cleaned to whitening products and polymerizing gel effectively.

Advantages

At Ferrus & Bratos, we advocate laser teeth whitening – currently replaced by the cold light lamp – as one more link within what is known as combined whitening.

This procedure advocates combining two outpatient kits of splints to measure for the patient’s mouth with a lamp session in the clinic.

The combined dental treatment procedure is as follows:

• After an initial study of the mouth, records of the patient’s mouth will be taken to make custom splints.
• At the next appointment, the patient will receive the first outpatient splint kit. The specialist will explain to the patient the correct way to place the bleaching agent in them and the hours that they must be worn for the treatment to be effective -generally, during sleeping hours.
• After 15 days, the patient will attend the lamp session for consultation. At this appointment, the patient will receive the second outpatient kit.
• After two weeks, the patient will go to the last appointment in which the specialist will verify the correct course of the procedure.
• Generally, a single lamp session is enough to achieve the desired results. However, sometimes it is necessary to call the patient for a second session – especially in cases of very severe staining.

Disadvantages

• In this regard, we cannot say that photoactivation teeth whitening has any disadvantage. However, there are two different things to keep in mind:
• First of all, it is normal for you to experience some tooth sensitivity during and after the procedure.
• You should also know that in cases of very severe staining – for example, due to the intake of certain medications such as tetracyclines. Or devitalized teeth, teeth whitening is ineffective.
• In these cases, the specialist in Dental Aesthetics will recommend other aesthetic treatments to restore the whiteness of their smile -placing veneers or performing an internal teeth whitening-.

Is laser teeth whitening painful?

• As we have discussed previously, laser teeth whitening is an entirely innocuous procedure that has immediate effects on the smile’s aesthetics.
• Therefore, it does not damage the teeth or have any contraindication. However, it is true that during the procedure or the first days after finishing it.
• It is common to feel some tooth sensitivity -especially to drinks or especially hot or cold foods. Faced with this symptom, you should not be alarmed: this sensation will subside naturally in a short time.

How long does laser teeth whitening last?

• Once the whitening has been carrying out, the results’ duration will depend on the hygiene and hygiene routines and the patient’s feeding patterns.
• However, you should know that certain foods contribute to staining tooth enamel.
• It is the case for beverages such as red wine, tea, coffee, and foods such as berries. Also, other habits such as, for example, smoking hurt custody the white of our grin.
• For this reason, we can affirm that a patient who has good dental hygiene routines and is not a smoker will see how the results of teeth whitening can be prolonged for life.
• To do this, you must periodically undergo dental whitening maintenance.
• These consist of using an outpatient kit of splints in which the patient must place the whitening gel.
  To be real, you must use them at home during off-hours for 15 days.