Many patients in the Heber City, Utah area have turned to Back of the Wasatch to enhance the appearance of their smile with teeth whitening. Our highly trained dentist, Dr. Lobrot, offers Opalescence professional teeth whitening services for patients in and around the Heber City, Utah area.
How do Teeth Become Stained?
There are several ways to experience discoloration on your teeth, from foods and drinks to medicines. Standard beverages such as red wine, dark soda, coffee, and tea can stain the outside of your tooth with an extrinsic stain. You can also get an extrinsic stain from tobacco use, poor oral care, and trauma. The other type of stain you can receive is an intrinsic stain, meaning that it originates from the inside of the tooth. This often happens with certain medications such as chemotherapy, antihistamines (like Benadryl and Claritin), antipsychotics, and blood pressure medications.
Tips to Prevent Tooth Discoloration
There are a few ways that you can prevent tooth discoloration. If you are drinking something known to cause discoloration, sip it with a straw instead of drinking directly from the glass. Additionally, you should consume water between the sips of the discoloring drink to remove the acid from your teeth. If you are using tobacco products, you should consider quitting. Using tobacco can cause several adverse health effects to your entire body, not just your teeth. Developing a good oral health routine of brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash twice a day can prevent discoloration from poor oral care. If you are playing contact sports, remember always to wear a mouth guard to avoid trauma to your teeth. Lastly, medications can cause tooth discoloration because they are a part of a medication family called anticholinergics. This medication reduces the amount of saliva you produce, reducing the number of times the saliva can rinse your mouth of discoloration substances in a day. If you are taking one of these medications, such as an antihistamine, make sure to stay hydrated to prevent tooth discoloration.
What can I do Once My Teeth are Discolored?
One thing we recommend for patients that have tooth discoloration is an Opalescence treatment. This teeth whitening treatment uses bleaching gel to whiten your teeth in just 45 to 90 minutes. Not only does this treatment whiten your teeth with hydrogen peroxide, but it also can strengthen the outer layer of your tooth, the enamel, with potassium nitrate and fluoride. The Opalescence treatment is a mixture of both an in-office and at-home option. The first treatment is done in-office, and then subsequent treatments are performed at home with the whitening gel and toothpaste.
How Does Whitening Solutions Work?
The first two layers of your tooth, the enamel, and the dentin are responsible for your tooth’s color. There are tiny molecules within both layers that reflect light. As the molecules become complex, they reflect more light, causing the tooth to appear stained to the naked eye. Dr. Lobrot uses a whitening solution from Opalescence called hydrogen peroxide to combat this. The hydrogen peroxide used in this treatment is powerful at 38%. Once placed on the teeth, the hydrogen peroxide breaks down the complex molecules reflecting light, making the tooth appear whiter. The other part of the Opalescence treatment is potassium nitrate and fluoride. Fluoride works to chemically strengthen the outside of the tooth, the enamel, to reduce the risk of tooth decay. Potassium nitrate reduces tooth sensitivity by blocking the sensation signals to the brain by clogging tubules in the tooth. A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, fluoride, and potassium nitrate can whiten, strengthen, and reduce tooth sensitivity.
Heber City Teeth Whitening
Several things in our day-to-day lives can cause tooth discoloration. If you have tooth discoloration and want to whiten your smile, visit Back of the Wasatch in Heber City for a teeth whitening session. We would be happy to help you reach your dental goals. For more information about teeth whitening or to schedule an appointment, call our office today.