Deep Bleaching

Deep Bleaching: What You Need to Know

There is no one-visit ‘fast’ bleaching technique today that makes teeth the very whitest they can be. Discus Dental, the original leader in tooth whitening technology, developed the ZOOM system. It has most recently been seen on the TV show Extreme Makeover.

ZOOM bleaching has been shown to be most effective when combined with the at-home tray bleaching technique. The Deep Bleaching technique combines several techniques and is thought to be the most effective teeth whitening technique known today. The Deep Bleaching technique appears to get teeth significantly whiter than ever before possible. Patients who previously were unable to bleach as white as they would have liked, because of ‘bleaching resistant teeth’, can now bleach significantly whiter.

The first session of Deep Bleaching will start with a bleaching session in our office, which will ‘condition’ the teeth to absorb oxygen more readily from the bleaching gel in your at-home bleaching system. Do not expect a tremendous color change from this first ‘conditioning’ visit, though. Immediately following the ‘conditioning visit’, at-home trays will be worn for 14 consecutive nights. After the 14th night of at-home Deep Bleaching, the final Deep Bleaching will be performed in our office and will provide significant additional whitening over what will have already been accomplished. The result will be WOW!

If your final appointment is longer than 14 days from your first bleaching/conditioning appointment, continue bleaching at home until your final Deep Bleaching visit.

Bleaching of the teeth with at-home trays is accomplished by wearing bleaching trays with bleaching gel in them. The trays will be made of thin clear flexible vinyl. Most patients find these trays very comfortable to wear and sleep with. You will see that the trays fit the teeth very well, and there is a gap (reservoir) on the outer side of each tooth (except there are no reservoirs on the very last back molars). These reservoirs will hold excess bleaching gel.

You will be given a bleaching kit. This kit will include several syringes of bleaching gel and a storage case for the bleaching trays. When you are finished with the entire Deep Bleaching process, place any remaining bleaching gel syringes in the refrigerator to extend the shelf-life.

Teeth Whitening Theory
Everyone’s teeth have a natural biologic limit of how white they can get. Historically, once you reached this limit, no amount of additional bleaching would whiten your teeth more. However, this Deep Bleaching system will extend this previous limit and allow significantly more whitening.

The special Deep Bleaching Technique of custom-made tray fabrication is one of the reasons that this style of bleaching works so well, The Deep Bleaching trays allow room for excess bleaching gel, and they seal it at the gum line.

You may have heard that certain types of over-the-counter bleaching gels have acid in them, which may damage fillings, crowns, bonding, and even the roots of teeth. The whitening gel YOU will receive from our office has absolutely no acid whatsoever and will not damage teeth or restorations.

In addition to whitening, oxygen also deep-cleans the teeth, removing microscopic debris from between the crystals of tooth structure. After bleaching, these pores are clean and open. These open pores have significant importance, which we’ll talk about later.

Directions
Just before sleep, take two Aleve tablets (Naproxen Sodium). Aleve is an over-the-counter medication similar to Advil (ibuprofen), but lasts seven hours. Advil works very well also, but does not last as long for over-night bleaching. The whitening gel and trays may cause temporary inflammation of the teeth and gums, resulting in some soreness. Aleve and Advil are great anti-inflammatory medications. This is very important to control the potential for inflammation and soreness. You will start your bleaching immediately before sleep. If you usually lie in bed watching television before sleep, wait until you are ready to sleep before using your bleaching trays.

Brush your teeth immediately before each beaching session with Rembrandt Plus Toothpaste (which contains an active whitening ingredient that helps start the bleaching process). It is important to brush immediately before bleaching because protein from your saliva will coat your teeth within minutes after brushing and could inhibit the bleaching agent from whitening your teeth as quickly. If you normally tend to have teeth that are sensitive to tooth brushing, cold or sweets use Rembrandt for Sensitive Teeth Toothpaste instead. This will help de-sensitize your teeth before bleaching.

Squeeze a dab of bleaching gel into each reservoir on the inner side of the outer walls of the trays (except in the very last molars). We will demonstrate this for you during your next visit. The gel is thick and the trays are flexible, so the gel will cause the outer rim of the tray to be pushed away from the gum line. After you put the tray in, you’ll need to firmly push the tray back against the teeth to establish the seal of the tray at the gum. This is important. We will demonstrate this also.

If you put too much gel in the tray, you’ll notice a significant amount of gel oozing out from under the edge of the tray. Take a Q-tip and remove the excess and next time use a little less gel. If you’ve put too little gel, you will see through the clear tray some large open voids (little bubbles are ok) in the reservoir not entirely filled with gel. If you see this, do NOT remove the tray. There is plenty of gel in the reservoirs to start your bleaching, but next time use a little more gel.

In the morning after removing the trays, rinse your mouth with luke-warm water. Cold or hot water may be slightly uncomfortable to rinse with at that time. Clean the trays with Q-tips under running water.

What to Expect
Your teeth and gums may become sore and sensitive during the first 3-4 days of bleaching. Taking Advil every 4 hours during the day will help this. This sensitivity usually decreases after the first 3~4 days.

You may notice that your teeth start to look funny. They may develop white spots. The area of the teeth near the gum line may look darker (this is just because the rest of the tooth will have become so light by comparison, Or the color may look too opaque (chalky). Don’t fear. This will all even out during the final deep bleaching visit and during the two weeks after you stop bleaching.

You may find that your lower teeth do not lighten as quickly as your upper teeth. This is because the lower teeth are smaller, the enamel is thinner, and the reservoirs will be smaller. Again, do not fear. The final Deep Bleaching visit will whiten them beautifully.

Permanently Maintaining Your New White Tooth Color
All natural teeth darken with time. It’s normal. And what accelerate this darkening are abrasives in toothpaste. Imagine you have a car with a new shiny white paint job, and you get some oil on the paint. Water alone won’t get off the oil. If you’re smart, you’ll use a very mild soap in water to dissolve the oil and leave the surface shiny.

But what if you used a kitchen cleanser like Comet or Ajax? Sure, that would get off the oil, but it would leave the paint dull. Not only would the paint be dull, but it would accumulate dirt and stain quickly. And after a year, the paint in this area would be darker because the surface roughness would allow stains to soak INTO the paint itself.

Well, all major toothpastes do the same to your teeth -- all but Rembrandt Toothpaste that is. All of the Rembrandt toothpastes have very low abrasion, yet they remove stains better than any other toothpaste. Like the mild soap we talked about, Rembrandt uses a natural enzyme from the papaya fruit to dissolve away the stains, so your teeth stay very glossy on the surface and do not collect or absorb stains quickly. The Rembrandt Plus Toothpaste has some additional benefits over the other Rembrandt products. It has actual bleaching agent in it to keep your teeth color stable. Starting now, this should be the ONLY toothpaste you ever use. Look for it in the toothpaste or tooth-whitening section at the pharmacy. Or you can order it directly from the company at 1-800-4 DENMAT or on the Internet at www.Rembrandt.com.

Additionally, you should wear the bleaching trays while you sleep, at least one night every four months as additional protection against darkening. Wearing the trays one night every four months will keep your teeth a very stable color indefinitely, however if you want to keep them at an even brighter white indefinitely, you may wear the bleaching trays more often.

So if you’ve just GOT to have your teeth absolutely the whitest they can be indefinitely, you may bleach more often than one night every four months -- you may even choose to bleach one night every month. Follow these instructions and your teeth should always stay white and bright. Remember; use ONLY the recommended Rembrandt Plus Toothpaste and the bleach provided by us at least one night every four months. Your teeth should NEVER darken again.

Other Important Bits of Information
During the two weeks of at-home bleaching stay away from staining foods and drinks. Remember I mentioned the oxygen cleans out the ‘pores’ of the teeth? We don’t want stain to fill in these microscopic pores during bleaching. That would only reduce the success of bleaching. Any food or beverage that would permanently stain a white shirt or blouse could also stain your teeth. If possible, when drinking a staining beverage, it may help to keep the beverage off the outer surface of the teeth by carefully drinking through a straw. Smoking should also be held to the very minimum during the bleaching process.

On your final Deep Bleaching visit, we will apply a glossy clear protective coating on your teeth, and you will not need to avoid staining foods after that visit.

If possible, do not skip nights when bleaching. We find that this slows down the whitening process.

Store your bleaching trays safely. Keep them in the case provided. Keep them away from heat -- heat will distort them. Don’t leave them in the hot car. Don’t put or wash them in warm or hot water. And keep them away from your dog. Dogs seem to think that bleaching trays are chew-toys.

Most importantly, place the trays carefully in the case. When you shake the case, you should feel that the trays are loose in the case. If they are not, and they are being bent inside the case, this will distort and totally destroy the trays

We know you are going to be thrilled with your Deep Bleaching whitening result, but only if you are able to comply with the above instructions -- they are important. If you have any problems or questions, call us right away.