Archives for August 2021

Whitening Non-Veneered Teeth

Posted on August 18, 2021 by writeradmin.

Will you give me some advice? I recently got porcelain veneers. I wanted them very white but did not think about how different the color would be from my natural teeth. When I smile, it is very obvious there are two different colored teeth. Could I use Crest Whitestrips to whiten the non-veneered teeth? Will it damage my porcelain veneers?

Brooke

Dear Brooke,

Teeth whitening trays

I’m surprised your dentist did not advise you to have some teeth whitening done before getting your porcelain veneers. It is pretty standard procedure when someone is planning on getting veneers that are a different shade than their natural teeth, but are not getting enough veneers to cover all their visible teeth when they smile. This is usually between eight and ten veneers. You did not mention how many you had placed, but I am guessing it was less than that.

While Crest Whitestrips will not damage your porcelain veneers, there will be some difficulties in using them. First, they are only designed to cover the front six teeth you have. In all likelihood, all or most of those teeth are now veneered. That means the bleaching gel won’t reach the teeth you actually need to be whitened. Additionally, the gel is so weak that it will take an extended amount of time to get them to match your veneers. It is possible that you could cut the strips so that they can be placed on just the teeth you need them, but that is a lot of trouble to go through for weak results.

I am going to suggest you have your dentist make you custom bleaching trays for you to whiten your teeth. He or she can even make them where they go around any teeth that have veneers on them. This will focus the whitening gel on your natural teeth.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

My Mom’s Teeth Are Falling Out

Posted on August 16, 2021 by writeradmin.

My 87-year-old mother just had some fillings done last week. Today, one of her teeth just fell out. I don’t know what to do. Shouldn’t the dentist have noticed this? Are her other teeth at risk too? What would be the best solution for her if they are?

Mary Ellen

Dear Mary Ellen,

Yes, your dentist should definitely have noticed there was a problem. To get to the point where her teeth are just falling out means your mother has extensive gum disease. It sounds like your dentist has just been cleaning and repairing and not being proactive about her gum health, This tells me he’s not checking other things either, such as looking for oral cancer.

At this point, yes, you should be concerned about the remainder of your mother’s teeth. They are all going to start all falling out. For your mother, I would just treat her gum disease as best you can and have the rest of her teeth extracted, getting her full dentures. You don’t want to wait until they all come out because she will be self-conscious about her appearance. Even the elderly want to look as attractive as they can. By the way, this advice is ONLY because of your mother’s advanced age. I would not suggest just getting dentures to someone younger for reasons I will explain in a moment.

The Danger of Dentures

When your teeth are first removed, your body recognizes that you no longer have any teeth roots, so it begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere in your body where it perceives they will be more useful. Unfortunately, after ten or so years, you will no longer have enough jawbone in your body to even retain your dentures. This is especially true with your lower dentures which just rest on the ridge of your lower jawbone. This is known as facial collapse, it can be devastating not just to a person’s appearance, but their health as well.

The only way to prevent this from happening is to have dental implants placed and anchor dentures to them. This is known as implant overdentures. It will signal to your body that you still have teeth and it will leave your jawbone intact. Because of your mother’s advanced age, I would not invest in these.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Premium Home Whitening

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Travis Wachendorf.

I keep seeing advertisements for something called Premium Home Whitening. If you are familiar with this product, would you mind letting me know what you think of it? I don’t want to waste my money, but I am interested in whitening my teeth. My dentist doesn’t do any cosmetic work, but I’ve been with him for years and would feel bad leaving.

Lorraine

Dear Lorraine,

Teeth whitening trays

I looked at this kit. Here’s what I found. First, the whitening ingredient is 35% carbamide peroxide. That is a good teeth whitening ingredient. That’s a real plus and better than I see in most over-the-counter whitening kits. There are some things that lessen its value to you, though.

One of the biggest issues is the tray. The trays you see in the image above are custom-fitted by a dentist. This ensures that the teeth whitening gel stays in the trays and your saliva stays out. The trays with Premium Home Whitening are DIY, that means you’ll bite down to create the fit of the trays. These will not be custom fit. You’ll find that your saliva will get into the trays, which will dilute the whitening gel, making it less effective. In addition, your gel will leak out, not only will that not whiten your teeth, but it will put your gums at risk. There have been cases of someone needing a root canal treatment because of over-the-counter teeth whitening.

While this will whiten your teeth, I think in the long run it will cost you more to get equal results than you could from a dentist. I do realize your dentist does not do teeth whitening. You don’t have to leave him to get your teeth professionally bleached, though. You could go to your dentist for your general dental care and another for your cosmetic work. It is a common practice and your dentist would not be offended at all. If he wanted your teeth whitening business, he’d offer the service.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Kristi Cheek.