Years of coffee, tea and red wine, lifted safely.
Professional gel is stronger and better controlled than anything sold over the counter, and it is applied so it reaches the teeth and not your gums.
We check for cavities and cracked fillings first, because whitening gel over either of those is genuinely painful.
Professional whitening uses a stronger, better-controlled gel than anything sold over the counter, applied so that it reaches the teeth and not your gums. It is the fastest, least invasive cosmetic change available in dentistry.
A single appointment of about an hour. Your gums are isolated and protected, professional-strength gel is applied in cycles, and you leave several shades lighter the same day. This is the option for a wedding, a graduation or a set of photographs on a fixed date.
We take impressions and make trays moulded to your teeth, so the gel stays where it belongs instead of leaking onto the gums the way a boil-and-bite tray does. You wear them a short period each day for one to two weeks, at your own pace. The result is equally good, arrives more gradually, and you keep the trays for occasional touch-ups later.
Many patients do both — in-office to get there quickly, trays to maintain it.
Whitening only works on natural tooth structure. Crowns, veneers, bonding and fillings keep the shade they were made in — so if you have a white filling in a front tooth, it may stand out after whitening and need replacing to match. Deep intrinsic staining from tetracycline or trauma responds poorly, and veneers are usually the better answer there.
Order matters. Whiten first, then match any new crowns, veneers or fillings to the new shade. Doing it the other way round means paying for restorations twice.
Expect one to three years before you want a touch-up, depending on your habits. Coffee, tea, red wine, dark sodas and tobacco are the main culprits — rinsing with water after them helps more than people expect, and a straw keeps dark drinks off the front teeth.
Most patients lift several shades. Yellow-toned staining responds best; grey tones are more stubborn. We will look at your teeth and give you a realistic expectation before you spend anything.
Professionally supervised whitening at the concentrations we use does not damage enamel. The temporary sensitivity some patients feel comes from the gel passing through the tooth, and it resolves within a day or two.
It is the most common side effect and it is temporary. Sensitive-teeth toothpaste for a week beforehand helps considerably, and we can lower the gel strength or shorten the wear time if it bothers you.
You can whiten your natural teeth, but the restorations will not change colour and may end up mismatched. If you have visible crowns or bonding in your smile line, talk to us about sequencing before you start.
We recommend waiting. There is no strong evidence of harm, but elective cosmetic treatment is easily postponed and there is no reason to take an unnecessary decision during pregnancy.
Whitening is often booked alongside a cleaning — the cleaning removes surface stain first, so the gel works on the tooth itself.
Request Appointment (408) 241-4111Same-week appointments are often available. Most dental insurances accepted, with flexible payment plans for patients without insurance.