One of the 'hidden dangers' in having your teeth whitened is that, no matter what method you use, your teeth are actually more susceptible to stains for a few days after they've been whitened. The reason why is simple and unavoidable.
Normally, your teeth are fairly smooth on the vertical surfaces, even on the molecular level -- but (as we discussed last week), almost every whitening method essentially amounts to a chemical attack on your stains, and those attacks can't help but cause microscopic levels of damage to your enamel as well. Now, tooth enamel is stubborn stuff, and it'll replenish itself quite quickly. Until it has, however, those extra-rough, freshly-whitened surfaces will accept new stains more easily than your church accepts offerings.
That means that for a few days after you get whitened -- no matter what the method, but with Zoom! this is especially true -- you'll want to avoid staining activities. That includes smoking, eating brightly colored foods like tomatoes, curry, and even chicken noodle soup (it has turmeric in it just like curry!) It also means avoiding coffee, tea, colas, and similar darkly-colored drinks especially, because drinks uniformly coat every surface of a tooth as they wash over it, virtually guaranteeing a loss of whiteness.
But what about the longer term? What about weeks after your whitening? Well, one of the big benefits of Zoom! over its competition is that Zoom! lasts for quite some time if properly maintained. Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt will give any patient who comes in for a Zoom! treatment their own personalized post-Zoom! stay-white regimen, usually consisting of a combination of at-home whitening kits, a daily routine of tooth-cleaning exercises, and sometimes even something unique like a new toothbrush that will help to keep those pearlies pearly.
If you follow the regimen and you avoid the obviously staining activities and foods when possible, you can expect your smile to stay bright and happy for about a year -- and even if you don't, six months isn't unreasonable with Zoom! That's why we at the office are proud to offer Zoom! whitening.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Unlocking the Mysteries of Zoom! Smile Brightening
It's one thing to tell our clients that Zoom! is a heat sensitive tooth whitening system. It's another to tell them that it uses a special whitening gel to make your teeth bleachy-keen in a matter of hours. But it doesn't really answer the burning question; what the heck is all that chemical and intense light power actually doing inside your mouth? Here's where you'll get your answer.
The Gel
The whitening gel is actually a mixture of hydrogen peroxide -- yep, the same stuff you buy at the drug store -- in a viscous fluid. It's designed to remain stable at room temperature, but to become reactive as it gets hotter. As it gets hotter, the hydrogen molecules break away from the oxygen forcefully, driving the oxygen molecules into and through the stains that sit atop your tooth enamel. It's actually much like using OxyClean, but instead of activating with water, it activates when hot.
The oxygen molecules are much smaller than the complex molecules that make up biological stains, and act like a tiny chemical sandblaster, with thousands of oxygen molecules pushed at a high rate of speed (at least, on a molecular scale) into the stain. They literally shatter the stain's molecules and separate them from the tooth enamel. The enamel, on the other hand, is dense enough and strong enough to withstand the oxygen barrage with zero noticeable damage.
Light Activation
The light activator, while it gets all the credit, is actually the least interesting part of the whole setup -- its function is to heat up the gel quickly and thoroughly without burning your lips or gums. In other systems, green intense lights are used to accomplish this goal (green being the type of light your tissues are least sensitive to), but in Zoom!, the light combined with chemical activation is much like the heat coming from your Nu-Wave oven. That makes it stronger than its competition, but requires that the dentist put a protective covering over your gums before turning the intense light on your teeth.
And that's that -- Zoom! is a mystery no longer.
The Gel
The whitening gel is actually a mixture of hydrogen peroxide -- yep, the same stuff you buy at the drug store -- in a viscous fluid. It's designed to remain stable at room temperature, but to become reactive as it gets hotter. As it gets hotter, the hydrogen molecules break away from the oxygen forcefully, driving the oxygen molecules into and through the stains that sit atop your tooth enamel. It's actually much like using OxyClean, but instead of activating with water, it activates when hot.
The oxygen molecules are much smaller than the complex molecules that make up biological stains, and act like a tiny chemical sandblaster, with thousands of oxygen molecules pushed at a high rate of speed (at least, on a molecular scale) into the stain. They literally shatter the stain's molecules and separate them from the tooth enamel. The enamel, on the other hand, is dense enough and strong enough to withstand the oxygen barrage with zero noticeable damage.
Light Activation
The light activator, while it gets all the credit, is actually the least interesting part of the whole setup -- its function is to heat up the gel quickly and thoroughly without burning your lips or gums. In other systems, green intense lights are used to accomplish this goal (green being the type of light your tissues are least sensitive to), but in Zoom!, the light combined with chemical activation is much like the heat coming from your Nu-Wave oven. That makes it stronger than its competition, but requires that the dentist put a protective covering over your gums before turning the intense light on your teeth.
And that's that -- Zoom! is a mystery no longer.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What Whitening Is Best For You?
We actually get a surprising amount of requests for our Zoom! whitening service here at the office, and the one thing we never get tired of seeing are those occasional clients that we have to say 'no' to. Not because we like saying 'no' to people, but because they're always happy to have a less involved procedure suggested to them.
Why does this happen? It's simple, actually -- it has to do with how white your teeth already are. Tooth whiteness is measured on a common shade scale of 1 (just had fresh porcelain veneers put on) to 20 (seriously yellow or brown.) Even Austin Powers would come in at about a 13 -- twenty is really really dark. A typical client of ours comes in with somewhere between a 4 and a 10.
Here's the thing -- Zoom! treatments are powerful stuff. They're meant to take that 10 and make him a 3. If you walk in the door and your teeth are already at a 3, you're probably going to to go through everything the other guy did and walk out the door 1 1/2 to 2, because there's only so much whiter that your teeth can possibly get -- and you'll get about the same results from a different, faster, less expensive whitening procedure. (If you have a 3 and you insist on reaching all the way up to a 1, we're going to tell you that you may want to get porcelain veneers to achieve the optimum white color that you want.)
So what other whitening options do we suggest for people who already have near-perfect teeth, but aren't going to shoot for the perfection that is veneers? The classic; we'll give you a take-home kit that uses dental trays and a bleaching gel that you wear either overnight or for a short period each day that will give you the results you're looking for in a couple of weeks for a little less than Zoom!
Zoom! is awesome -- but it's not necessary for everyone, and we don't want to charge you for something you don't need.
Why does this happen? It's simple, actually -- it has to do with how white your teeth already are. Tooth whiteness is measured on a common shade scale of 1 (just had fresh porcelain veneers put on) to 20 (seriously yellow or brown.) Even Austin Powers would come in at about a 13 -- twenty is really really dark. A typical client of ours comes in with somewhere between a 4 and a 10.
Here's the thing -- Zoom! treatments are powerful stuff. They're meant to take that 10 and make him a 3. If you walk in the door and your teeth are already at a 3, you're probably going to to go through everything the other guy did and walk out the door 1 1/2 to 2, because there's only so much whiter that your teeth can possibly get -- and you'll get about the same results from a different, faster, less expensive whitening procedure. (If you have a 3 and you insist on reaching all the way up to a 1, we're going to tell you that you may want to get porcelain veneers to achieve the optimum white color that you want.)
So what other whitening options do we suggest for people who already have near-perfect teeth, but aren't going to shoot for the perfection that is veneers? The classic; we'll give you a take-home kit that uses dental trays and a bleaching gel that you wear either overnight or for a short period each day that will give you the results you're looking for in a couple of weeks for a little less than Zoom!
Zoom! is awesome -- but it's not necessary for everyone, and we don't want to charge you for something you don't need.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Introducing Zoom! And Other Smile Brightening Options
Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt would like to help usher in the season by reminding everyone that spring is the season of new life, growth, and new friendships! It's time to shake off the winter blahs, do some spring cleaning, and get ready to reconnect with life. That makes it a great opportunity for teeth whitening (or 'smile brightening' as we prefer to call it around the office.)
Our office has recently gotten a brand new whitening system installed -- the Zoom! system by Phillips. Zoom! is a laser whitening system that takes about an hour. A special wax is placed on your gums to protect them, then put a whitening paste on your teeth. Finally, you'll get an implement in your mouth to keep your lips open and teeth slightly apart, and we'll shine a big old laser onto the whitening paste.
You repeat the processes a few times in a single visit, and then spend 48 or so hours avoiding foods and drinks that might stain your teeth. Once the new whiteness has 'set', you're good to go and you can resume eating and drinking normally (though we encourage you to continue avoiding the most staining foods and drinks like coffee, tea, curry, and so forth.)
Of course, Zoom! isn't the only whitening option that our office has to offer. We have a variety of whitening options that range from the industrial-strength versions of the kinds of kits you get at the local drug store all the way up to our porcelain veneers, which can turn almost anyone's teeth into pearly beauties.
If your smile is keeping you down this Spring, don't keep it locked away -- get it beautified and turn it loose! It's so much more fulfilling to smile with all your heart in it.
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