Two Scottsdale-area dentists give tips and advice about how to whiten your teeth — and keep them white.
Dr. Jeffrey D. Clark of Scottsdale Dental Excellence has some advice about how to whiten your teeth. For the best results, here is what he recommends:
1. Whitening immediately after your dental cleaning.
2. If you need a power boost of whitening, I recommend bleaching at home first. The bleach will be applied to whitening trays and should be worn for 30-60 minutes once per day for 5-7 days.
3. Then, I also recommend an in-office visit for a whitening power boost session. We use a specially-formulated, concentrated whitening solution that we put on the isolated teeth.
4. We also recommend that you do not consume any stain-causing foods, such as tomato sauce, red wine, coffee, tea, etc. for at least 48 hours after.
Once your teeth are whitened, here is what Clark and Dr. Mark Peck of Dental Studio 101 recommend you do to maintain that Tom Cruise sparkle:
1. It is best to stay away from stain-causing foods and drinks. If you are not able to avoid them, be sure to brush within an hour of consumption. Plaque, which causes discoloration, begins to form within an hour of eating. If you stop plaque before it forms, you stop discoloration.
2. We don’t recommend whitening toothpaste because they can be very abrasive and can cause tooth recession and sensitivity.
3. Whitening strips are also not as ideal because they are not custom made to fit your teeth and can move around and cause gingival irritation, and you will swallow the bleaching solution, which can be irritating to your throat and stomach.
4. Hand brush your teeth once a day and brush with a Sonicare toothbrush twice a day. In addition, Peck recommends using Sonicare AirFloss as an added measure to keep your teeth and gums looking their best.
5. If you have your teeth professionally whitened, be sure to use the custom whitening trays that the dentist sends home with you at least once a month to maintain whitening.
