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Teeth Whitening: Frequently Asked Questions

Teeth Whitening: Frequently Asked Questions

Are you interested in a brighter, whiter or healthier-looking smile? Tried over-the-counter teeth whitening products and achieved no results? At Edinburg Family Dentistry we frequently get asked questions about teeth whitening and figured it would be best to educate all of our patients at once! Today we are going to cover the most frequently asked questions we get asked about our teeth whitening treatment.

What is teeth whitening?

Teeth whitening is a dental treatment which uses special products that are applied directly to the teeth to remove staining. Store-bought teeth whitening products are designed to remove exterior staining and can take months to achieve even the slightest results. Most patients also report tooth sensitivity and gum irritation when using over-the-counter teeth whitening kits and products. Our professional teeth whitening treatment is designed to remove both exterior and interior staining, leaving your teeth brighter, longer. Best of all, our treatments are not known to cause sensitivity or irritation.

Is professional teeth whitening better than store-bought?

If results and the comfort of your mouth are important to you, then yes professional teeth whitening is better than store-bought in our opinion. As mentioned above, over-the-counter teeth bleaching products are only designed to remove exterior staining.

What are the risks of teeth whitening?

Any teeth whitening product or treatment may have the risk of tooth sensitivity. However store-bought options are much more reported. At home teeth whitening also runs the risk of irritation and damage to your gums.

Am I a candidate for teeth whitening?

It is hard to determine if someone is a candidate for teeth whitening without properly evaluating their smile. However, those with gum disease, crowns, veneers, dentures, implants and a range of other dental treatments may not be a candidate. We recommend scheduling a consultation with our teeth whitening dentist for a more accurate answer.

Is teeth whitening permanent?

No teeth whitening is not permanent, however, with certain lifestyle, dietary and dental hygiene choices you can prolong the results and prevent additional staining, discoloration and dulling of teeth.

Schedule Edinburg Teeth Whitening Treatments

Ready for a brighter smile? Schedule your appointment with Edinburg Family Dentistry today!

Book an Appointment

What we are doing to keep you and your family safe when you come to our office

We hope you and your family are in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While may things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it is both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up to date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff.

For example:

  • Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
  • We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
  • You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
  • Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
  • We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at one at a time.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice.

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.