Even if you brush and floss consistently every morning and night, there’s a chance you might develop dental stains. For example, consuming too many darkly tinted foods or drinks, like coffee, tea, tomatoes, or berries, can eventually leave your enamel looking more yellow or brown than pearly white.
Thankfully, many dentists offer in-office and take-home teeth whitening solutions for beautiful, reliable results. But some patients require multiple applications to achieve the perfect shade. Continue reading to learn more about how many treatments you might need to brighten your smile sufficiently!
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
Most whitening gels contain bleach, such as hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, which undergo a chemical oxidation reaction in your mouth when they come into contact with the water in your saliva. This breaks down stain particles clinging to your enamel, reducing their size and concentration to brighten your grin.
If you opt for professional in-office teeth whitening, your dentist speeds up this process by exposing your teeth to a special ultraviolet light for more immediate results. This can potentially brighten your enamel by several shades in a single appointment, whereas take-home products might take a couple of weeks to start to produce the desired changes.
How Many Teeth Whitening Sessions Will I Need?
Are you curious how many teeth whitening treatments you’ll need to undergo to produce the perfect hue? It’s natural to have questions, but the answer can depend significantly on your unique circumstances.
For example, different factors can affect the number of needed applications, including:
- The kind of whitening you choose. Store-bought products often contain diluted bleaches that are less effective than professional grade solutions, and are more likely to require multiple treatments or cause sensitivity.
- The type of stains present. Extrinsic stains caused by frequent or prolonged exposure to darkly colored foods and drinks often respond better to topical bleach than intrinsic blemishes that soak into or start in the lower layer of dentin.
- The severity of your condition. Those whose teeth are a deeper tone to begin with tend to require additional treatments to lighten their enamel.
- Other habits and routines. Continuing to eat foods known to stain or neglecting your oral hygiene can affect the success of your cosmetic service.
How Can I Maintain My Brighter Smile?
Regardless of how many sessions it takes to achieve the ideal shade, it’s only natural to want to do everything you can to preserve the results. Most people can help maintain the outcome by:
- Implementing an at-home dental hygiene routine. Brushing and flossing twice daily removes plaque and bacteria that give pigmented particles a sticker surface to cling to.
- Choosing foods carefully. Avoiding common culprits, like tea and coffee, can help prevent additional discoloration.
- Scheduling routine checkups and cleanings. Seeing your dentist every 6 months for routine preventive care allows them to monitor your oral health and polish away more recent surface stains.
If you have additional questions about what to expect from teeth whitening or how many treatments you might need, your dentist can provide more accurate information based on your current condition!
About the Practice
At Unique Dental of Putnam, you and your family benefit from two dentist who are passionate about helping you build beautiful, healthy smiles. Dr. Moaz and Dr. Zakhem collaborate to offer a complete menu of services, including in-office and take-home teeth whitening, using advanced technology to meet the unique needs of people of all ages. They take the time to get to know your goals and concerns, then devise customized treatment plans to address them. If you want to remove dental stains, you can request an appointment on the website or call (860) 928-4352.