Bleaching
With over 20 years of experience in bleaching we use all available and approved bleaching techniques. This is why we are not only competent in giving you qualified advice but also in offering the perfect treatment.
Aforesaid, you can distinguish different bleaching methods by indication: Should intact teeth become whiter, or should a tooth which has darkened after a root canal treatment be brightened? Or is your need a combination of both?
As varying as the single methods are, the active chemical agent is always carbamide peroxide. Carbamide, which is a neutral tasting, colourless carrier gel, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) - the same agent used in hair dye, or antisepsis.
The carbamide releases the hydrogen peroxide very slowly. The warmer the bleaching-gel is, the faster the reaction. For example at body temperature it can take up to eight hours to release small amounts of H2O2.
Small pigments from coffee, tea, red wine, saffron, tobacco and many other such substances you consume every day mature on the surface of your teeth and darken them. These pigments penetrate white enamel. The H2O2 does not dissolve the pigments, but it changes the angle of chemical bindings - so that light which falls onto the enamel is reflected in another colour and your eyes perceive it as being brighter.
The structure of your teeth does not get damaged, the coloured molecules are gently being changed. Tooth enamel is less durable against abrasion directly after the bleaching procedure. This effect completely disappears after five to 10 days as shown in scientific studies. During this time it is also possible that you perceive cold and heat more distinctively. Though, two or three days following the bleaching procedure, usually after a few hours, this effect also disappears.
If you wish to brighten your natural teeth, there are different therapeutic approaches at iDentis:
1) Home-bleaching
Home-bleaching is the proven and safest method. For this procedure we customize very thin, perfectly fitting aligners, in which you place the carbamide peroxide gel. You wear the bleaching aligners for either one to two hours at night, or all night long. Usually the desired effect is reached after two weeks of bleaching.
2) Surgery-bleaching
Bleaching at our surgery can take up to four appointments. Basically it works the same way as the home-bleaching, you also receive aligners from us in which we put the carbamide peroxide gel. Due to the higher dosage it usually takes 20 to 30 min. It is possible to warm up the gel with special lamps to release more H2O2 in the same amount of time for a greater effect. The gums are protected by a covering to avoid irritation, which may be caused as result of the higher dosage.
3) Chairside-bleaching with UV-activation
For this procedure your gums and lips are also covered to protect from irritation. After that a mild, light activated whitening gel is put onto your teeth and our “White Smile Bleaching Lamp” which produces a defined wavelength is positioned in front of your teeth. The gel perfectly releases the H2O2 via the light activation. Every activation round takes 15 min and is repeated three to four times until the desired brightening effect takes place. Additionally we can combine this bleaching procedure with home-bleaching.
4) Internal whitening
Non-vital teeth, which have darkened due to former root canal treatments can also be whitened. For this procedure a special whitening gel is put in the inner tooth- the upper part of the root canal, and the teeth are sealed with a temporary filling. The gel is replaced weekly until the desired effect occurs. There is no need to destroy healthy tooth structure in covering it with a crown.
The success of the bleaching procedure is quantifiable. We us standardized colour scales or electronic colorimeters which work based on spectrophotometers and modern LED technology in order to document the bleaching effect.
We recommend that the intake of strongly pigmenting food and beverages like red wine, berry juice, coffee, black tea, saffron and tobacco be renounced during the bleaching process and for upto two weeks thereafter. These pigments can penetrate teeth more easily during this period. The long-term success of bleaching depends on criteria including eating and drinking habits, brushing habits and fluoride intake. The more pigmenting food and beverages your teeth come into contact with, the faster the brightening effect disappears. Usually the whitening effect lasts for at least three to five years.
Before bleaching, it is important that your teeth receive professional dental prophylaxis and a visual inspection by our dentists. The combination of untreated caries spots or insufficient crown edges with the H2O2 can cause an inflammation of nerves. In order to prevent that you will be checked by our dentists.