Whether the result of aging, smoking, food or wine, tooth stains are all but inevitable for most people. Fortunately, the teeth whitening options available at The Smile Centre can erase stubborn tooth stains and give you the bright, gleaming smile you deserve.
If you are troubled by the appearance of dingy, discolored teeth and would like to learn more about our teeth whitening services, contact us today to schedule a consultation. If you live in the Sarasota area of Florida, contact our Palm Aire location online or at 941-351-4468. If you live in or around Florida, please contact us online. The Smile Centre welcomes patients from Sarasota, Bradenton and neighboring Florida communities.
In-Office Zoom! Tooth Whitening
The Smile Centre proudly offers Zoom! Teeth Whitening. One of the most effective professional tooth whitening systems available today, Zoom! Teeth Whitening can brighten your teeth up to seven shades in just one session.
What are the Benefits of Zoom! Teeth Whitening?
Zoom! delivers a number of advantages over store-bought teeth whitening options, including:
- Effectiveness: The Zoom! system is capable of brightening your smile up to seven shades brighter than what it is today.
- Safety: In-office tooth whitening treatments are the safest way to brighten your teeth. One of our experienced dentists will monitor every stage of the process to ensure your teeth and gums are protected.
- Longevity: The Zoom! Teeth Whitening system is designed to provide long-lasting results. With a proper home dental hygiene routine and occasional touch-ups at The Smile Centre, your smile can look bright and beautiful for years to come.
- Speed: Compared to other tooth whitening systems that take weeks, or even months, to minimally brighten your teeth, treatment with Zoom! only takes about one hour at our office.
During your Zoom! Teeth Whitening session, one of our highly trained dentists will cover your lips and gums before carefully applying a safe and powerful whitening agent to your teeth. In a series of three 15-minute rounds, a lamp will be used to activate the hydrogen peroxide contained in the Zoom! Whitening gel. This causes oxygen to seep into your tooth’s enamel and dentin layers, ultimately bleaching away stains.
Who is a candidate for Zoom! Teeth Whitening?
Professional teeth whitening can reduce most cases of staining and discoloration. However, it is important to differentiate between the two common types of stains: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic discoloration is staining that occurs deep within a tooth or teeth. Several factors can cause intrinsic stains, including injury to a tooth, erosion of enamel, overexposure to fluoride, and certain medications. Most intrinsic stains are small spots of discoloration, not the overall dulling and yellowing that characterize extrinsic discoloration.
Extrinsic discoloration is the surface staining that results from the foods and beverages we consume daily. Smoking is also a contributing factor to this type of discoloration. Extrinsic stains are within the layer of enamel that covers teeth. Professional teeth whitening lifts this surface discoloration by breaking up the tiny particles that have accumulated in the pores of enamel. Your dentist can help you understand the nature of your discoloration and discuss the best ways to revive the radiance of your smile. Professional teeth whitening like Zoom! is appropriate for people whose teeth are generally healthy and strong.
Most patients can undergo this procedure with little concern because whitening is non-invasive. If you generally have sensitive teeth or thin enamel, your dentist may recommend home whitening using a longer treatment timeline or lower concentration of whitening gel. The best candidates for Zoom! teeth whitening have good oral health and realistic expectations of their treatment outcome.
It is possible to over-whiten. While a snow-white smile can sound glorious, in reality it could make the smile look unnatural. Zoom! is performed in stages to prevent over-whitening. Our goal is to bring out the best in each patient’s smile.
How long does Zoom! Teeth Whitening take?
The average appointment for Zoom! teeth whitening lasts about an hour. Each application of whitening gel sits for only 15 minutes. The process occurs only 3 times during the appointment. Once done, patients can go about their day feeling great about their smile!
What results should I expect after one Zoom! Teeth Whitening treatment?
It is difficult to predict how much every patient’s teeth will lighten as a result of Zoom! treatment. Dentists agree that, on average, they see a 4-shade lift after two to three applications of the whitening gel activated by blue light.
The results of professional teeth whitening can last many months, even years. The controlling factor is how well you take care of your smile. If you were to drink coffee until lunchtime and enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner each night without following a consistent brushing and flossing regimen, your teeth would likely stain within a month or two. However, patients who brush as recommended by their dentist, floss every day, and make a few lifestyle changes can extend the vibrant results of teeth whitening. It isn’t necessary to give up all drinks and foods that can stain your teeth. Simple changes like drinking through a straw when comfortable and rinsing the mouth with water after consuming drinks like coffee or tea make a big difference in the speed of discoloration.
Teeth Whitening FAQs:
How many Zoom! Teeth Whitening Treatments will I need for best results?
What makes Zoom! teeth Whitening so special is that it is designed to achieve impressive results in a single session. This treatment can lighten the color of teeth by several shades in about an hour by repeating the whitening process three times in a one-hour appointment. Even patients with severe discoloration see outstanding improvement with Zoom! teeth whitening treatment. However, some may continue to enhance their results by following up with professional home whitening after their initial session.
How often can I whiten my teeth with the Zoom! system?
Zoom! teeth whitening is an accelerated system that utilizes light to maximize the effects of a bleaching solution. This process is powerful, so should be done only once a year. Good oral care habits and regular checkups and cleanings can reduce the speed of new discoloration.
Is Zoom! Whitening painful or uncomfortable?
Teeth whitening is notorious for being uncomfortable. There are two reasons why those strips you can buy at the drugstore may cause discomfort. One is because they do not protect the gums. Even though the concentration of peroxide in the whitening gel is low, direct contact with the gums causes irritation in nerve roots.
Another reason that discomfort known as “zingers” may occur with teeth whitening is that, for the peroxide solution to work, it seeps into the pores in enamel. This is inevitable even with Zoom! treatment. However, some patients sail right through their procedure without a single “zing!” Most describe their appointment as easily tolerable. Because a plastic mouthpiece holds the lips open wide for the duration of the 45-minute treatment, patients may find the device uncomfortable. It may help to start moisturizing the lips days before treatment so they are softer and more flexible.
Will Teeth Whitening make my teeth sensitive?
Teeth whitening can cause temporary tooth sensitivity, yes. This happens because the peroxide used to remove stains seeps into deeper layers of enamel. The nerves of teeth are not far beneath the layer of dentin that is just under enamel. Having peroxide so near to the dentin, nerves can become more reactive. Toothpaste for sensitive teeth may help reduce the discomfort. You may also want to avoid hot and cold beverages for a few days.
How long can I expect my teeth to stay white after my whitening treatment?
If there’s one sure bet, it’s that your teeth will stain again. You could stop drinking coffee and red wine. You could stop eating blueberries and raspberries and, gasp, dark chocolate. But who wants to do that? There’s no “set” duration for how long your teeth will stay bright and white. If your teeth became stained by coffee and the like, they will become stained again. But you don’t have to give up that glass of red wine — when you feel your teeth are becoming a little dingy again, simply come back in and we’ll whiten them again. Or we can give you another supply of whitening gel for your at-home trays. Home hygiene also makes a difference. Using whitening toothpaste (ADA approved, of course), and brushing for two minutes twice daily is important. Plus, coming in for twice-yearly professional cleanings with the team at The Smile Centre is equally important to keeping your teeth their whitest.
How many teeth whitening sessions will I need?
At The Smile Centre our Zoom! in-office teeth whitening treatments are meant as single, stand-alone treatments. Come in with stained teeth and walk out in an hour with teeth up to eight shades whiter. If you opt for home teeth whitening, how many nights you wear your custom-made trays at home will depend on how stained your teeth were at the start. We recommend most of our Sarasota patients wear their trays at home for 30 minutes a day for two weeks.
Is teeth whitening painful? Will it make my teeth sensitive?
There isn’t any pain whatsoever during whitening treatments, whether in-office or at home. Because teeth whitening agents penetrate the enamel of your teeth, your teeth can be a little sensitive to hot and cold foods and drinks for a brief period, but this passes quickly in a day or two. If you have particularly sensitive teeth, be sure to tell us as we can desensitize your teeth with potassium nitrate or calcium phosphate before we perform the whitening.
What should I avoid after a Zoom! teeth whitening treatment?
There aren’t any restrictions on what you can eat or otherwise do with your teeth following your Zoom! whitening treatment. Because the hydrogen peroxide whitening agent penetrates the enamel of your teeth to break loose and remove the stains, your teeth may be somewhat more sensitive to hot and cold for a day or two after your Zoom! treatment. But that resolves quickly. Otherwise, do whatever you like. But be sure to smile a lot, as your teeth are now bright white and gleaming!
What causes my teeth to become stained?
Like our fingerprints, our tooth enamel is unique to the person. The color varies slightly, as does the porosity of the enamel. Fortunately, most staining occurs in the enamel and responds well to teeth whitening using peroxide-based gels. There is another type of staining that occurs in the dentin, the layer behind your enamel. This staining usually is the result of a drug reaction — tetracycline is the main culprit here — and it cannot be whitened. The way to cover this type of staining is to have our team cover the stained teeth with porcelain veneers. These are the culprits behind your stained teeth:
- Foods — Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, even dark chocolate all contain pigments that can make their way into tooth enamel.
- Drinks — Coffee, tea, red wine, darker fruit juices, and cola drinks leave stains.
- Smoking — Nicotine makes the enamel yellow.
- Genes — Darker enamel tones are usually genetic.
- Drugs — Tetracycline was a popular antibiotic in the 60s, but it was found to make the dentin in teeth grey. There are now recommendations to not use tetracycline with children due to this problem.
- Fluorosis — If a person has too much fluoride, or if it is ingested, it can cause fluorosis, which stains the teeth a grey color. Despite the misinformation spread around the Internet by anti-fluoride crusaders, this is very rare.
Would teeth whitening work on my teeth?
This is a question of the type of staining. If your teeth have a grey tint due to a reaction to tetracycline when you were eight, teeth whitening won’t have much effect on those stains in the dentin layer. The peroxide simply cannot penetrate deeply enough to fully remove stains in the dentin. That’s a case where the patient would be better served by having our dentists place porcelain veneers over the teeth or apply bonding on one or two stained teeth. But if your staining is due to foods, drinks, or cigarette smoking, these stains are in the enamel. That makes it a perfect scenario for our Zoom! teeth whitening at The Smile Centre.
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"If you are in need of a professional, efficient and friendly dental team then you need to check out The Smile Centre! One of the best experiences I’ve ever had at a dentist office. I highly recommend this office."-Cori
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Take-Home Teeth Whitening
We want your smile to look its best. Whether you undergo a quick, highly-effective in-office treatment, or choose to brighten your smile over time in the privacy of your home, The Smile Centre offers safe, proven teeth whitening options to help your teeth look bright, white and beautiful.
If you would prefer to brighten your smile in the comfort of your own home, we can provide you with a take-home kit that includes customized trays tailored specifically to your unique smile. These individualized trays fit snuggly on your teeth, ensuring that the whitening gel covers each tooth evenly, producing a balanced, beautiful result.
Call The Smile Centre Today
To learn more about our in-office and take-home teeth whitening options, call today to schedule an appointment at The Smile Centre. If you live in the Sarasota area of Florida, contact our Palm Aire location online or at 941-351-4468. If you live in or around Florida, please contact us online. Our three convenient office locations serve the Sarasota, and Bradenton area of Florida.