North Haven Teeth Whitening

North Haven Teeth Whitening

A beautifully white smile will make you feel more confident every day and can improve your appearance before a wedding or other special event. Healthy white teeth look stunning in photos.

There are two ways to whiten your teeth: at home over a period of weeks with a take-home kit or in our office in one visit with Zoom. While both methods work equally well, Zoom is faster and is preferred by most of our patients.

Before we begin, the dentist will check your teeth to make sure they’re healthy enough for the strong bleaching gel we use. If you haven’t had a cleaning in a while, it’s a good idea to schedule one ahead of your whitening appointment. If you’ve had one recently, you probably don’t need another.

Zoom Teeth Whitening

If you want same-day results and maximum convenience, your best option is in-office Zoom whitening. We’ll do everything, and you’ll leave with a sparkling smile.

The Zoom whitening process is simple. We repeat it three times, which takes a total of about 45 minutes:

1. We prepare your mouth by gently pulling back your lips and applying a protective coating to your gums. That keeps your sensitive mouth tissues safe from the bleaching gel.
2. We carefully paint your teeth with the gel.
3. We shield your lips and face and position the Zoom whitening light over your teeth. The light will activate the gel.

After Zoom, your teeth will be up to eight shades whiter.

Take-Home Teeth Whitening

Take-home whitening works as well as Zoom but is less expensive. The drawback is it can take two weeks or more to get the same results. The process is simple. We will take digital impressions of your mouth and use them to create custom trays that fit perfectly over your teeth.

You will take these custom trays home, fill them with the Zoom bleaching gel, and place them over your teeth for each whitening session. We will tell you how long the gel should stay on your teeth.

Though you can stop whitening when you reach a shade you’re happy with, you should save the custom trays. In the future, we can provide you with more whitening gel for touchups every year or two to keep your smile its brightest.

What About Over-the-Counter Whitening Methods?

Our whitening gels break down stains using peroxide. Many over-the-counter whitening kits also contain peroxide gel. However, their gel isn’t as strong as what dentists are allowed to give their patients. The OTC gels just don’t get teeth very white, and some of them can damage teeth, leaving them even more vulnerable to stains.

What about whitening toothpaste? The problem is even if the toothpaste has some amount of peroxide, it won’t be enough. And the toothpaste won’t be in contact with your teeth long enough to give you any noticeable result.

Keeping Your Teeth White

Teeth whitening is permanent. The peroxide reacts with the stains on a chemical level, oxidizing them so they can’t come back. However, you can still get new stains, especially if you enjoy stain-causing treats like coffee and berries. Fortunately, we can give your teeth a touch up if you get new stains. So there’s no need to go through life hiding your smile.

To make an appointment for teeth whitening at our North Haven, Cromwell, or Wallingford location, please call us at 203-234-3900. You can also fill out this form, and we will call you.