How can we help you?
One of our beliefs here at Generations Family and Cosmetic Dentistry is that information and education are powerful. We believe in giving our patients the opportunity to ask us questions about their dental care and the treatments we recommend and we promise to always answer those questions to the best of our availability.
If you’d like to know more about our practice, the services we offer, and dental care, please take a look through our FAQs where we’ve answered some of the questions we hear the most often. If your question isn’t answered here or you’d like more information, please don’t hesitate to call our Arvada dental office at (303) 421-2131. You are also welcome to email your questions to us using our convenient online form.
Teeth Whitening
How long your teeth stay white and bright following a teeth whitening treatment depends on a number of factors. Some of these include:
- Which type of whitening treatment you choose
- Your lifetime habits
- Your home hygiene habits
- Your professional cleaning routine
While no whitening treatment can offer permanent results, the results can last from several months up to a year or more.
You can increase the duration of your results by:
- Using professional, in-office treatments
- Having a cleaning before your whitening treatment
- Consuming less coffee, tea, red wine, and other dark, staining foods and beverages
- Not smoking
- Brushing twice each day using good technique
You can maintain your whitening results with Opalescence Go. This professional whitening option uses preloaded trays that adjust to fit your teeth, making whitening convenient – no matter how busy your life gets!
Dr. Compton can recommend a touch-up schedule for you so your smile can stay youthful and healthy looking. Retouching every six months is usually sufficient for most people.
We don’t recommend drugstore teeth whitening kits to try to extend your results. These products don’t have the same strength as professional products, so you won’t get the same results. Additionally, many types of whiteners sold in drug and grocery stores rely on abrasive ingredients that can damage your enamel.
Because teeth whitening is sometimes referred to as “bleaching,” misconceptions about how the process works can be common. Teeth whitening is also used frequently as a vehicle for laughs in movies and sitcoms when a character has their teeth whitened to the point where they are unnatural and weird looking.
Actual professional teeth whitening is not like that at all.
The active ingredients in Boost are hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide. These ingredients are able to penetrate your enamel and your dentin. Once inside the tooth, they break apart and break down the colored molecules that cause discoloration in your teeth. Because only the colored molecules are targeted, your teeth can not be whitened beyond their own natural shade.
Teeth whitening with Boost is not painful because the product also contains potassium nitrate which reduces sensitivity. This means that you can whiten comfortably and get the results you want. Because the product is chemically activated, you don’t have to sit under an uncomfortable, hot light like you would with other products.
Your safety and comfort are incredibly important to us, and we’ve compared all the available products to choose the one that we think is the best for our patients.