Teeth Whitening

Whitening lightens the natural tooth itself. A peroxide gel is applied to the enamel and passes into the tooth, where it breaks down the coloured molecules that have accumulated in it over years of tea, coffee, tobacco and paan. Nothing is removed from the tooth and no material is added to it.

In-clinic whitening uses a stronger gel than home products, applied by your dentist with the gums protected, so the whole result is achieved in a single appointment. Take-home trays are often supplied afterwards to extend and maintain it.

Two limits are worth knowing before you book. Fillings, crowns, veneers and bridges do not lighten, so visible restorations on front teeth will stand out against a lighter shade and may need replacing to match. And not all discolouration responds: staining from within the tooth, after an injury or from certain medicines taken while the teeth were forming, lightens unpredictably or not at all. Your dentist will tell you which kind you have before starting.

The appointment takes about 60 to 90 minutes in the dental chair and needs no anaesthetic. It is done in a single visit and you leave straight afterwards.

Your dentist first checks that the mouth is fit for it. Untreated decay, leaking fillings and active gum disease are dealt with first, and the teeth are usually cleaned, since surface stain lifts with a scale and polish and the gel then works on the tooth colour beneath.

The starting shade is recorded and photographed for comparison. Your lips and cheeks are held back with a retractor, and a protective barrier is painted along the gum line and set, so the gel stays on the enamel. The gel is applied across the front teeth and left for ten to fifteen minutes, then suctioned off and reapplied, usually two to four times in the session. Some systems shine a light on the teeth during this.

At the end the barrier is removed, the mouth is rinsed, and the shade is recorded again alongside the starting photograph. Trays and gel for home top-ups are often given with instructions.

There is nothing to recover from and you go back to your day immediately.

Sensitivity to cold is the usual after-effect, sometimes with short sharp twinges, and it typically settles within 24 to 48 hours. A desensitising toothpaste used for a week before and after reduces it. The gums can look pale or feel tender where the barrier sat, and that resolves within a few hours.

For the first 48 hours the enamel takes up colour more readily, so avoid tea, coffee, red wine, cola, turmeric-heavy food, beetroot, soy sauce, tobacco and paan during that window.

The shade continues to settle for about two weeks. Judge the final result then and not on the day, and if a restoration needs replacing to match, that work is planned after those two weeks so the new shade is matched to the settled colour.