deariejojo wrote:hi gf, i wanted to do teeth whitening for very long ago but still indecisive which method to opt for..i got many qns..hope u can clear my doubts..
1.there are 2 methods: laser and bleaching (gel)??
2. which is more effective and last long?
3. laser causes higher sensitivity than bleaching?
4. for bleaching, what brand of gel do you use? how long can it last?
5. for laser, how long is the procedure? immediate results? how long can it last?
6. if book with you, do consultation and whitening on the same day?
7. is there any student price ??
please pm me ur dental address and prices for both laser and bleaching
im new here..if i cant receive pm, can u email me at
deariejojo@gmail.com ??
Hope to hear from you soon
hi deariejojo,
hope to answer some of your queries as best as i can:
1. generally you can get whitening done in-office or as a take home kit or a combination of both. i assume you're asking about the in-office method.
The in-office whitening all utilises some form of whitening gel, (usually carbamide peroxide or less popularly, hydrogen peroxide). they vary in the activation mechanism (laser, light activation or chemical activation) etc
2. Their effectiveness (laser, light or chemical) is generally the same and the longevity is affected by other factors, not so much the activation mechanism.
some people would claim certain mechanisms are longer-lasting etc, but they're actually all the same in effectiveness and longevity.
3. like i mentioned, they're the same. the active agent is the "gel", not the means of activation
4. the gel used varies between the activation mechanism used. most utilise a form of carbamide peroxide these days. (because hydrogen peroxide is difficult to store, breaks down easily)
5. the laser (which is similar to light activated) bleaching takes about an hour plus to complete. It is basically 3 or sometimes 4 cycles, each cycle taking about 15 mins.
yes the result is immediate, but the colour is not stable immediately after the treatment, gotta give it about a week or so for the colour to become more even. also, you'll expect to lose a bit of the lightness after the colour stablises. this is because immediately after the procedure, the tooth is dessicated (dry) so it appears a very dense opaque white. after rehydrating, it becomes "less white" but more translucent. (which is good because it looks more natural. an intense opaque white looks "fake")
6. depends on whether you're ready for the procedure. there may be other things to treat before actually doing whitening. eg. if there are caries (decay), you gotta get them treated first before the whitening. (otherwise it'll be especially sensitive!)
7. not that i know of anywhere.
i notice you're really concerned about how long the effects can last. it's hard to give an exact period as it varies according to how dark was the initial shade, the cause of the darkening/staining and of course how well you take care too.
generally, it's strongly recommended for some form of take home maintenance kit to be fabricated for you. subsequently you'll have to maintain the colour at home. just using the gel about once every 3 months for an hr or so would enable you to maintain the shade.
hope what i said makes sense to you. lol.
cheers