You can expect your teeth to chew through a lot over the years, and many foods and beverages can leave marks on your smile. Items like coffee, tea, red wine, berries, and colorful candies are often rich in pigments and dyes that can become embedded in the enamel to create unsightly stains and discoloration. Teeth can also lose their luster due to aging, medications, or smoking habits. Here’s what you should know about veneers and professional teeth whitening as well as why one of these treatments may be better for you.
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
While there are many purported teeth whitening products sold in stores, these kits can deliver lackluster results or even lead to injuries due to poor manufacturing or user error. Professional teeth whitening treatments from your dentist eliminate these risks while delivering superior results that can leave your teeth up to eight shades whiter. Professional teeth whitening comes in two forms:
- Take-home treatments: These kits include customized dental trays and a tube of professional-grade whitening gel. All you’ll have to do is apply the gel to the trays and wear them for an hour every day for two weeks.
- In-office procedures: Your dentist can complete this treatment in about an hour. During this procedure, they will place barriers in your mouth to protect your soft tissues and apply a few coats of whitening agent to your teeth.
What Are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are thin shells designed to fit over troubled teeth, thereby covering defects such as cracks, chips, gaps, and stains. This treatment is the open secret behind the flawless smiles of many movie stars and media personalities and is capable of completely transforming a grin into a beautiful new state. To place them, your dentist will use a local anesthetic to numb the teeth being treated before removing a small amount of enamel and cementing your veneers in place. This procedure can be completed in as few as two visits.
While professional teeth whitening is a more affordable and less invasive procedure, porcelain veneers may be better for treating stubborn stains and discoloration that do not respond to teeth whitening treatments. Consulting with your dentist can give you the definitive answer as to whether either of these treatments is right for you.
About the Author
Dr. Daniel Weldon earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine from the University of Florida College of Dentistry and has taken advanced education courses through the world-renowned Spear Education. He is proud to be a member of the Florida Dental Association and the American Dental Association. His office in Ocala, FL, offers preventive, restorative, emergency, and cosmetic dentistry such as porcelain veneers and teeth whitening treatments. To schedule a cosmetic dental consultation, contact his office online or dial (352) 622-3236.