Whitening for Worn Down Teeth

I personally have sensitive spots due to tooth wear on my back teeth. These are spots where the outer protective layer, enamel, has been worn down. The take-home whitening system with the trays cover the entire tooth inside out and really caused a lot of sensitivity almost pain to those spots when I tried them.

For those who have the same problem as I do, I would recommend the In-Office Whitening, both Laser/Gel or Gel, where the gel placed on teeth can be isolated to a specific area to avoid the sensitive spots. The drastic results are seen more from In-Office treatment as well since you're doing almost 10 days worth of at-home whitening in one visit.

You will need to consult with your Dentist on whether your teeth have sensitive spots, or exposed dentin, that can cause this problem which I had.

Whitening Toothpaste

Research shows many different things. But toothpaste by itself cannot do sufficient whitening where you get long lasting results. It can be abrasive and is like scratching off a thin layer of your enamel which can be seen at the moment as some degree of whitening. So I wouldn't call it true whitening. Another thing to note is the thinner your enamel gets the yellower your teeth will be since the inner layer 'dentin' of the tooth will show through more, and dentin is yellow in color.

Over-the-Counter Whitening

Some research shows Over-the-Counter Whitening gives similar results as the Take-Home type you get from the Dentist. I've had conflicting responses from my patients. If you tried the OTC whitening and it has not given you results, it would not be a bad idea to try the In-Office Whitening, Laser/Gel or Gel, or the Take-Home which you get from the Dentist with custom formed plastic trays.
I have not had one patient who didn't get results from In-Office or the Take-Home from the office.

Take-Home Whitening

This is a good way to whiten teeth if you are okay with wearing plastic trays with bleaching gel in it varying from 30mins - 8hours a day consistently for 5-10 days.

Your Dentist will take impressions of your upper and lower teeth and make plastic trays that mold/fit over your teeth. The next time you go in, you'll get some bleaching gel in syringes with the finished bleaching trays for your teeth.

The gel is placed in the tray and then inserted over your teeth. Excess gel must be wiped clean. I'm personally not a fan of this method. I'm not crazy about swallowing bleaching gels and as I mentioned in my post about worn down teeth, my teeth can't handle it.

This method, though, is great for those who just don't have the time and need to do things on the go or during their sleep.

In-Office Laser vs Gel Whitening

What is the hype about Laser whitening? Is it really that much better than the gel whitening? Even if the gel is the in-office kind?

Laser whitening is a combination of the gel + laser/light. What the laser does is it activates or catalyzes the gel to start the whitening process.

Gel whitening, like the name, uses gel. A gel is applied just like how you would with the laser type, and the gel whitens the teeth. This type of gel just does not require a light to start the whitening process.

I have tried Zoom with zoom gel, Pola gel with a blue curing light, and just regular gel Boost by Opalescence. Results? All three had good results. These results may vary in degree by individual. But if you trust your dentist uses good products, then the system they use for in-office whitening should give you results.