Holidays are a time of great joy and laughter — and pictures. Armed with smartphones, everyone’s a photographer. And rather than ending up in an abandoned photo album, your image can be seen across the internet in social media. To make sure your good cheer isn’t overshadowed by dull, yellowing teeth, a little teeth whitening before the holidays can go a long way toward a picture-worthy occasion.
At Avalon Dental, we help our patients in San Ramon, California, maintain great dental health from the inside out. And the ultimate finishing touch on all of these efforts are pearly whites that give you the confidence to smile broadly.
If you want your teeth to brighten the room as much as the festive lights, we can whiten your teeth in time for all of those holiday parties.
There are a number of reasons your teeth become discolored and yellow as the years go by, and they’re all perfectly natural. Let’s start with the loss of enamel, which wears down over time. This protective white surface covers the brown dentin inside your teeth. As it wears down, more of this brown substance shows through, which is what creates the yellowing effect.
Now throw in the the foods that stain your teeth, from natural dyes to the food coloring that’s increasingly found in everyday meals, and you’ve got an uphill battle to maintain white, bright teeth. And some foods are worse than others, like the morning cup of coffee or evening glass of red wine.
Further discoloring your teeth are lifestyle habits such as tobacco use, which creates dark staining that’s difficult to tackle through your regular at-home care.
While the efforts you make at home can help with some staining and yellowing, you sometimes need a little professional help to get back to white teeth. Over-the-counter products are somewhat effective, but they can be messy and take time to make an appreciable difference in the whiteness of your teeth.
With the professional-grade Zoom® whitening system, we can whiten your teeth up to eight shades, either in our office or at home
Let’s start with our in-office procedure, which rewards you with incredible results of whitening.
When you come in for your first visit, which will last about 30 minutes, we discuss your goals and take impressions of your teeth to make customized upper and lower trays. You use the trays after your whitening procedure to address any post-whitening sensitivity and for follow-up whitening.
During your second visit, we cover your gums to protect them and apply the right amount of prescription bleaching solution to your teeth. We then use special LED lights to activate the gel, which goes to work immediately.
Typically, we do three 15-minute sessions, which we accomplish during just one whitening visit. At the end of your the session, we fill your trays with a gel for sensitivity care. From prep to finishis about one hour and 15 minutes. Then you walk out of the office with visibly whiter teeth.
If you’d prefer a more gradual approach, we can supply you with what you need at home. As with our in-office procedure, we first outfit you with customized trays. Once they’re ready, you pick them up along with the whitening gel. There are two different concentrates, and we choose the one that will work best for your teeth.
At home, you simply use the gel and trays for seven days, and your teeth lighten up as you go.
Once we make these trays for you, whether, for in-office or at-home use, they’re yours to keep for touch-ups and maintenance.
If you’d like to make your smile pop at your next holiday event, give us a call to learn about our Zoom teeth whitening system. Or you can use the online scheduling tool on this website to set up an appointment.
