Safe Teeth Whitening By Our Burton Cosmetic Dentist

Although a common procedure, teeth whitening can go wrong unless professionally supervised.

A desire to have whiter teeth is one of the more common reasons for people to visit a local cosmetic dentist. Once, predominantly the preserve of the wealthy, this procedure is now widely available and at an affordable price. This, in turn has led to a rapid increase in demand.

One result of this increase in demand was that a number of high street premises, dedicated solely to this procedure, started to spring up on Britain’s high streets. Whilst not all of these were necessarily bad, it was found that many had little knowledge of the safety aspects of the procedure, with some unfortunate results.

Side effects

The fact is that a teeth whitening treatment affects not only the surface enamel of the teeth, but also the inner part too. For this to be lightened, a form of bleach is used. It was found that some of these premises were using whitening solutions that were much too strong, often resulting in lasting teeth sensitivity issues for some patients. In addition to this, spillage or leakage of the bleach onto a patient’s lips and gums led to painful burns. This latter problem can also occur with ill fitting kits that can be bought from chemists.

These high street establishments are now illegal and only a registered dentist is allowed to perform a teeth whitening procedure. At Mike Allen’s Dental Practice, we are pleased to be able to offer this to our Burton patients.

Our treatment

The safety of our teeth whitening procedure begins with the consultation. Once a decision has been taken, by the patient, to have their teeth whitened, impressions will be taken of the teeth. These are used to produce close, but comfortable, fitting trays into which the whitening solution is placed. These customised trays prevent leakage of the solution onto the lips and gums. These trays are to be worn, initially, every night for a minimum of a fortnight. There is a possibility that some extra sensitivity may be experienced at this stage but we provide a desensitising solution which helps to alleviate this.

Finally, patients see us, after a few weeks and are given a stronger solution to use for a short period of time whilst relaxing in our waiting room.

Maintenance

Even our experienced Burton dentists are unable to prevent teeth from discolouring again after a period of time. However, once the trays have been produced, you can simply top up the whitening with a short period of using the gel, every month or so. We will discuss this with you during your visits. If you are dissatisfied with the colour of your teeth and would like to have them whitened safely and effectively, please call Mike Allen’s Dental Practice on 01283 845 345.