Can Teeth Be Bleached to Match My Eyeballs

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I want to whiten my teeth to where they are as white as my eyeballs. Is that possible or am I being unrealistic?

Percy

Dear Percy,

Teeth Bleaching Trays

I find some of the questions I get to be fascinating. This is one of them. The answer would depend on how white your eyeballs are. At some point, whitening hits a wall. Additionally, it is hard to pinpoint a specific color with teeth whitening. When you think you have reached the level of whitening you want and stop whitening, there is always some oxygen released that changes the color a bit.

The best way to get a specific color and match your teeth to something is with porcelain veneers. These are more expensive than teeth whitening. I will caution you against price shopping on them though. Porcelain veneers are used for complete smile makeovers. This skill is not taught in dental school. Because of that, dentists have to invest in post-doctoral training to learn to do them well. To make it even more challenging, there is a need for artistry in order for the results to look both natural and beautiful. Artistic skill takes time. Not all dentists are created equally in this. You will often find that those dentists who are significantly cheaper than the standard, there is a reason. You don’t want to end up as a cosmetic dentistry horror story.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.
Click here to learn about our free virtual smile makeover consultation.

 

Tooth Mousse and Teeth Whitening for White Spots

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I’ve developed some white spots on my teeth. I went to see my dentist and he prescribed me to use some tooth mousse. After that, he says I will need to do some teeth whitening. Will I need anything else after this or will this take care of the white spots?

Emily

Dear Emily,

tooth bleaching trays

Teeth whitening trays

 

If I were grading your dentist, I would give him about a 45%. The white spots you are dealing with are precursors to decay. They show spots where your teeth are demineralized. If not dealt with, these will become cavities. Tooth Mousse will help with the remineralization and should prevent the decay. However, the company doesn’t make any claims about the appearance of the tooth.

As for the teeth whitening, that is way off base. One basic fact about teeth whitening is that it whitens your teeth evenly. That means the white spots will get whiter along with the remainder of your teeth. There will be no evenness of color.

The only way to get the color the same would be with microabrasion and dental bonding. I would not have your dentist do this. Teeth whitening is the most basic of the cosmetic dentistry procedures. He has a profound lack of understanding with how this works. Microabrasion and dental bonding are much more advanced. I would look for a skilled cosmetic dentist to do this for you.

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

Is Taking Tetracycline as An Adult Bad for Your Teeth?

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My doctor has me on tetracycline for acne. My dentist recently noticed the brownish lines on the back of my teeth. My mother thinks these might be from the tetracycline. Is this medicine bad for my teeth? Is there a way to get rid of the stains?

Maggie

Dear Maggie,

Smile with tetracycline stained teeth.

 

You did not mention how old you are, so I am not going to make any assumptions. Generally, tetracycline only stains your teeth if they are still forming. So, if you are over thirteen years of age (and your writing certainly indicates that) then it is unlikely that tetracycline is the culprit. That being said, there is one study that did indicate a specific variety of tetracycline, called minocycline, can stain adult teeth after they are formed. That would be the first thing I would check.

A great toothpaste to help remove surface stains is Supersmile toothpaste. Please don’t try and use any other over-the-counter whitening toothpaste that you can get. They use abrasives to scrub off stains. While it will make your teeth temporarily whiter, the abrasives damage your enamel and make it much easier for them to pick up stains.

If these are true tetracycline stains, and you are in the early stages, you can try teeth whitening, but you will have to be persistent with it. Other than that, you would have to fix them by covering them with porcelain veneers, though veneers do not go on the back of teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.
Click here to learn how to get a free virtual smile makeover consultation.

 

White Spots on Teeth

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I’ve had white spots on my two front teeth my whole life. I like how they look, but my other teeth are dingy in comparison. My dentist is suggesting Lumineers, but I think that is more than I am wanting to pay. Can I not just whiten my teeth without whitening the two front teeth?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

tooth bleaching trays

Teeth whitening trays

 

I am glad you decided not to go with Lumineers. If all you want to do is whiten your teeth, that would be a massive, not to mention expensive, overtreatment. Additionally, Lumineers in particular are highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists. That is the last person you would want to have do a smile makeover for you. It takes significant post-doctoral training, not to mention an artistic eye, to do it well.

In your case, I would go with teeth whitening. However, teeth whitening works on teeth evenly. Ask your dentist to provide you with at-home bleaching trays. These should be custom fit to your bite. However, because of your two front teeth, you’ll want him or her to cut out the front teeth from the trays. This way the only thing being whitened are the teeth without the white spots.

For the benefit of others, I want to mention there is another type of white spots that takes a completely different treatment. If someone has white spots, they could have been there from childhood, as Laurie; but, often white spots appear after braces. These spots are different. They are decalcification spots, which are a precursor to tooth decay. Those who are wearing braces, often don’t realize how difficult it is to adequately brush around all those wires and brackets. This is why we recommend Invisalign whenever someone is a candidate. These are removable and make it super easy to upkeep your dental hygiene.

The solution for the type of white spots from braces, requires a skilled cosmetic dentist. The white spots have to be gently removed and then they can be recovered with composite bonding.

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

What Else is Needed with Porcelain Veneers?

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I had planned on getting a smile makeover with porcelain veneers but my dentist keeps adding other procedures I need before I can get the veneers. Getting a full checkup and cleaning I understood. Getting Invisalign and teeth whitening seems excessive. Are these really necessary? I was under the impression that porcelain veneers can make your teeth look straight. The only thing I have that could “possibly”  need some orthodontics is one canine tooth that is a little in front of the adjacent tooth. It seems unnecessarily expensive to do that for one tooth.

Letticia

Dear Letticia,

porcelain veneers

 

I’m glad you wrote and can help give you some direction here. Let’s start with the teeth whitening. How much of this you need will depend on how many porcelain veneers you plan on getting as well as how wide your smile is. Let us say, just as an example, that you only plan on getting four porcelain veneers. However, when you smile, you can see ten teeth. If the veneers are very white, but your natural teeth are more of a taupe it will be very obvious that you have four “fake” teeth on your front teeth. If however, you whiten your teeth first, then the adjacent teeth will blend more naturally with your new smile makeover. If you are getting plenty of porcelain veneers on your top teeth, then the only teeth you may want to whiten is your bottom arch so it is not a stark contrast to your top arch. This is much more affordable.

The Invisalign is a completely different story. Based on what you described to me, you should not have to have any orthodontics before getting porcelain veneers. Your understanding of a smile makeover and what porcelain veneers can do is more solid than your dentist’s. The fact that your dentist does not know how to make those teeth look straight tells me he is not skilled enough in porcelain veneers. Don’t force him to do this. You will be unhappy with the results. Instead, find a dentist with more expertise. Look at some before and after pictures of work they’ve done to ensure you would be happy to have those results.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Christi Cheek.
Click here to learn about our free virtual smile makeover consult.

Whitening Non-Veneered Teeth

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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,

tooth bleaching trays

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.

 

Premium Home Whitening

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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,

tooth bleaching trays

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.

Pain with Teeth Whitening

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I’ve been doing teeth whitening for a week and a half and it was going fine until yesterday. I keep feeling this painful zap that lasts about 30 seconds then goes away. It is always in the area of where I had some composite bonding done for some damage to the tooth some years ago. Could the teeth whitening be damaging the bonding?

Olivia

Dear Olivia,

tooth bleaching trays

Teeth whitening trays

Teeth whitening does not affect dental bonding. If the bonding had failed, the repair would have just fallen off. You mentioned that this bonding is a few years old. The more likely scenario is that the bonding is nearing the end of its lifespan. I would pause your teeth whitening and then have your dentist look at it. It is very likely that some of the composite is worn and that is exposing part of the tooth.

If that is the case, your dentist can simply repair the composite bonding and then you will be able to take up your whitening again after the repair. It is good that you are doing your whitening under the care of your dentist. Because of that you will have protection from unnecessary complications.

Once the exposed part of your tooth is covered again, you should not have any more pain while you are whitening.

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

Luster Premium Home Tooth Whitening

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I received an advertisement for Luster Premium Home Tooth Whitening. When I looked it up, there were some good reviews. Do you know anything about the product? Is it safe?

Laurie Anne

Dear Laurie Anne,

tooth bleaching trays

Teeth whitening trays

I looked over both the reviews and the ingredients. I try to be fair about these type of things because I want people who can’t afford professional teeth whitening to have an option. Unfortunately, I don’t think this one is a good option. First, looking at the ingredients. They are not using a valid whitening ingredient. Instead, they use a pigment in zinc oxide. This will stick to your teeth and make them appear whiter, at least for a time. I am assuming that is where all the positive reviews came from. They saw the results and wrote a review before the pigment wore off. The light they advertise is too weak to have any real effect. I suspect it is only there for marketing purposes. Please don’t waste your money on this.

The one over-the-counter teeth whitening I have seen that does work is Crest Whitestrips. There are only two real downsides to this. First, the strips only cover your front six teeth. If your smile is wider than that, you’ll need to use more than one strip. Second, the whitening agent is pretty weak. This is because it is an over-the-counter whitening. There are legal restrictions on their strength in order to protect patients who are not under the care of a medical professional.

The number of boxes you would have to purchase in order to get the same results as you would with professional teeth whitening through a dentist will end up costing you about the same. One thing I suggest if the price is the issue is to simply be honest with your dentist that you want to whiten your teeth but don’t have the full price outright. See if he or she is willing to let you pay it out. It can’t hurt to ask. If they say no, you have two choices. You can wait and save or you can do it a little at a time with the Whitestrips. Either way, you will have white teeth.

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

Touch Up Teeth Whitening

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I am having a crown replaced and before making a final decision on the color of the crown I want to touch up my teeth. I had them whitened back when I first received my crown about four years ago. Of course, my teeth have picked up stains since then. How long should I use the whitening gel each day to get them back to the color I want?

Mary

Dear Mary,

tooth bleaching trays

I am going to answer your question about teeth whitening touch-ups, but before I do I wanted to address something about your dental crown. You said your crown is only 4 years old and already needs to be replaced. In general, a crown should last a minimum of 5 years. Well made crowns, coupled with good care from the patient, can last upwards of 15 years. I’m concerned about the skill level of your dentist if yours only lasted four.

Sometimes patients will go to the dentist with the cheapest fees thinking they will save money. Often, though, that backfires. Let’s say your dentist only charges $500 for a crown, but another more skilled dentist charges $1,000. You may think you are saving money by going to the cheaper dentist, but if his crown only lasts four years and the more expensive crown lasts closer to fifteen or sixteen years, you’ll be paying $500 four different times. You actually ended up paying double the amount than if you’d have gone to the skilled dentist to begin with. That’s not including the hassle and lost time having to go back and forth for each new crown.

Now, let’s talk about that teeth whitening. The basic principle with teeth whitening is the longer you can tolerate wearing the whitening gel, the faster your teeth will whiten. To get whiten the fastest, my suggestion is either to have Zoom Whitening done. This is an in-office procedure that whitens your teeth in one appointment. The main advantage to this is speed. There are two disadvantages, though. It is more expensive than bleaching with trays and you have little to no control over how white they get.

Your second option is to have bleaching trays made by your dentist. You can use your old ones if you still have them. Then, try wearing the gel overnight. Not only is this a longer stretch of time than most people can do during the day, but the gel is more effective at night. This is because your saliva level goes down at night so there is more potency available with the gel. If that is difficult for you and causes sensitivity, then you just wear them for as long as you can during the day. How many days that is necessary depends on how white your goal result is.

The one hard and fast rule is to give it a week or two between the time you complete your teeth whitening and the time you have the crown made. This gives the color of your teeth time to settle.

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