Even though our teeth may appear to be smooth, when observed under magnification they present a structure based on micro tubules. This means they are like sponges that we use in a daily basis.
We all have seen what happens to sponges: when they are new they have a certain color but, as we use them, several particles get inside them and make them change their color.
The exact same thing happens to teeth after years of ingesting artificially colored food, dark soda, coffee or tea: micro particles of these products remain in our mouth and enter the tubules in our teeth.
As a result, our teeth lose the color and characteristics they had when they were younger and they start looking stained and give the impression of being older than they actually are.
At Advance Dental Costa Rica, we employ the latest techniques to help you recover, in a more conservative and less invasive way, the color and vitality of your teeth.
Our first option for recovering the brightness of your smile would be a process called “Advanced Prophylaxis”, which is completely painless and its duration can last from 45 minutes to an hour.
It requires the utilization of a Minipiezon, which is a last generation instrument that generates an ultrasonic oscillation, irrigated with high pressure water, which detaches all the plaque that is attached to the tooth, thus liberating the dental enamel from bacteria. Once the session with the Minipiezon is finished, a polishing process is made to brighten the dental enamel.
This procedure does not change the color or the shape of your teeth. What it does, is it removes the exterior stains, caused by the ingestion of food and beverages, and it eliminates the bacterial plaque attached to the teeth.
The American Dental Association recommends scheduling this treatment once every 6 months, since it has been demonstrated that even if you use dental floss and a toothbrush (both manual or electric) on a regular basis, these instruments are not enough to eliminate all the bacteria that can be found attached to your teeth.
After finishing our Advanced Prophylaxis, you will have healthier teeth and gums. If you wish to change the color but not the form of your teeth, what you need is for us to perform a treatment that will change the color from within. For this you will need Dental Whitening.
Let’s remember that our teeth are like sponges, with many micro tubules. By performing a whitening, we will be entering the tubules with a substance, usually a peroxide, that gets inside them and eliminates all the particles and unwanted material that are there.
Many people inquire about the sensibility related to these treatments, if they are safe, how long do the teeth remain white and how often can you receive them.
Sensibility: usually teeth have saliva in the micro tubules, and it works as protection for the nerve from the temperature changes both in the mouth and from the exterior. When we perform the Dental Whitening, one of the things we eliminate from the microtubules is the stains and also the saliva. This is the part of the procedure that originates sensibility. This can last from an hour and up to 48 hours, according to reports given by Advance Dental Costa Rica’s patients. It stops once the tubules are filled with saliva again.
Safety: being a treatment in which a no dental structure is touched and in which the enamel remains intact, whitening is considered as a conservative-no invasive treatment, and is highly safe.
How long does whitening take and how often can it be done?
Both depend mainly on the patient. If a person has the habit of consuming lots of artificial colorants, it will generate greater amounts of particles on the mouth and, therefore, stains will be produced. However, the color has been proved to remain intact in people who don’t have high consume of this substances for up to 14 months.
Regarding the frequency of the treatment, it varies with the patient’s expectations; but in cases in which whitening is performed every 6 months, no negative or adverse results have been found.
Our whitening protocol consists in the following process: A 4 section session, performed in one day. It takes approximately 1.5 hours, using the ZOOM! Whitening.
After finishing this session you will be given a set of personalized dental trays, with a product designed for reducing the sensibility that can be produced with the treatment, and an additional whitening treatment to take home and perform a touch- up session whenever you want to.
Additional care before and after your whitening procedure:
In order to avoid sensibility, we recommend certain instructions and products, all approved and suggested by the FDA and the American Dental Association, prior to your whitening session.
The week following your whitening you must avoid drinking or eating products with lots of colorants, in order to obtain better results.
Please, contact us , and we’ll gladly respond to any inquiries you may have regarding “Advanced Prophylaxis” and Our teeth whitening.