I just moved to a new state and had to find a new dentist. At my first cleaning they offered me a free whitening kit. It’s a great offer, but I have had fillings done on a couple of my front teeth and I don’t think it will work for me. I’m thinking I will give the kit to my teenage daughter as a reward for just getting her braces off, but my husband doesn’t think that’s how it works. Will you please explain how whitening at home works?
Thanks,
Darla, Minnesota
Dear Darla,
Many people don’t realize that teeth whitening doesn’t work on crowns, veneers and fillings. Glad you knew that before you started.
While it would be a great reward for your daughter for all the work of having braces, having an at-home whitening kit from the dentist isn’t just a little package that you take home and share, as you could with maybe one from a drug store. Even though the whitening is all done at home, the preparation for whitening starts in the dentist’s chair. Your dentist takes an impression of your teeth and makes soft plastic trays that fit snuggly in your mouth. You use those trays to put the whitening solution in, put them on your teeth, and leave them on for the time recommended for the frequency of your whitening.
You could ask your dentist if he is willing to allow your daughter to use the free whitening opportunity, but he will probably want to make sure your daughter’s teeth are clean and her mouth healthy. That sounds a lot like an examination, and if she is going to get an examination, she will probably be offered her own free whitening kit. You can always ask and if they say she has to have an exam, you will have to decide if it’s worth switching her to this new dentist for the free whitening or not.
You may be interested in reading more about teeth whitening.
This post is sponsored by Enfield dentist Dr. William Cummiskey at Generations Dental Care.
