I need to get a dental crown but want to touch up my teeth whitening first. My dentist isn’t sure how long I should whiten to get my teeth back to the way they were. Do you have any possible tips for me? I really want a white smile before committing to the color for my dental crown.

Deanna

Dear Deanna,

 

I am a little concerned that your dentist could not answer these questions. Teeth whitening is the most basic of all the cosmetic procedures. If he cannot give you basic advice on this, are you certain he can create a natural looking and beautiful dental crown. I am going to advise you about the whitening, however I suggest you ask to see before and after pictures of dental crowns your dentist has done before moving forward with the crown. If you don’t think the results are of the quality you’d want in your smile, I suggest you find another dentist to do the crown. Just to be safe, ask if the images he is showing you are work he’s actually done or if they are stock photos. You’ll want the work to be his to get an accurate assessment.

As for the teeth whitening. There is a basic guideline that says the longer you can tolerate the teeth whitening the faster your teeth will get to the color you want. If you are doing take home bleaching trays, like in the image above, you will find you will whiten the fastest by wearing them at night. I don’t know how much whitening you want, so it is hard to say, “You should whiten for X number of days.” . If you cannot tolerate wearing them that long, tailor it back to what you can. You will simply have to whiten a few more days.”

There is one thing which has a more static measurement. After you reach the level of whitening you want, you should wait a week before your crown is measured. This way the color has an opportunity to stabilize.

I hope this helps.

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