Zoom Whitening for Unevenly Colored Teeth

Posted by writeradmin

When my daughter’s braces came off, there were white spots on her teeth. Our dentist suggested we try zoom whitening because she had just gotten the zoom machine and thought it would work for us. Unfortunately, it did not. If anything, they are worse. Did she do something wrong because she’s new at the machine or do we need to try something else? My daughter was looking forward to having a beautiful smile after getting her braces off so she is really disappointed. We are hoping to get this fixed before school starts back. Any advice?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

While Zoom Whitening is a wonderful way of whitening your teeth quickly, it does not work on teeth that are uneven or spotty. This is because teeth whitening, whether at home or in-office, will whiten the teeth uniformly. The white spots get whiter along with the rest of the tooth surface. As a result, you are still spotty.

What are the White Spots?

White spots are a symptom of decalcification. As the word sounds, she has lost some of the calcium and phosphorus in her teeth as a result of bacteria. It is pretty tricky to get those teeth brushed adequately around all those metal wires and brackets. As a result, bacteria were allowed to breed. This decalcification is a precursor to decay and needs to be dealt with.

What is the Solution for Decalcification?

The best solution for this is dental bonding. The decalcified surfaces will be gently removed by microabrasion. Then a composite resin will be used to fill in the surface area. I do not recommend having your current dentist do this. It is an advanced cosmetic procedure and she still does not have a basic understanding of teeth whitening, which is the simplest of the cosmetic options out there.

Before settling on someone. Check out their smile gallery to see what type of results they get. As I mentioned, it is a difficult procedure and not every dentist has the artistry to pull it off. You want your daughter going into the new school year with a smile she will be proud to shine.

This blog is brought to you by Arnold, MD Dentist Dr. Meredith Esposito.