Smiling Pretty : Bleaching Offers a Quick Fix for Teeth Stained by Coffee, Tea or Tobacco
A GLISTENING WHITE smile is a powerful asset--so desirable that celebrities frequently shell out thousands of dollars for bonds, caps and veneers to improve less-than-perfect teeth. Now, advances in cosmetic dentistry have made bleaching a less expensive method of teeth whitening.
The procedure has been around since 1984, but increased marketing efforts have made it more popular in recent months. “It’s hot right now,” says Dr. Gregg M. Lane, a Woodland Hills dentist. Where Lane used to receive only one or two requests a month for whitening, he now performs the procedure daily.
Bleaching is ideal for removing exterior stains, says Dr. Jonathan Scharf, vice president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Scharf, who practices near Philadelphia, explains that stains caused by coffee, tea, red wine, tobacco or aging are easily eliminated. Internal stains caused by drugs such as tetracycline are more difficult to remove and may require more intensive treatments.
Two bleaching methods are available--in-office bleaching (also called power bleaching) and supervised outpatient bleaching. For both, a dentist makes a tray from a mold of the patient’s upper or lower teeth. Hydrogen peroxide solution is applied to the inside of the tray, which snaps into the mouth and can be worn in public or overnight. The solution dentists use may be as much as four times stronger than that provided to patients for home treatments. Office treatments for upper and lower teeth take a minimum of half an hour. Results can be obtained after as few as three or as many as 10 office sessions.
Bleaching is less expensive than overlays, but it isn’t cheap. Surveys by the academy show that prices nationwide range from $175 to $650 per set of upper or lower teeth whitened by the patient. Each in-office treatment costs from $120 to $275 per upper or lower half of the mouth. Single-tooth bleaching by a dentist ranges from $100 to $350. Still, these prices are a far cry from the cost of bonding, veneers and caps, which can run between $100 and $1,500 per tooth.
Most patients notice some darkening over time, but Scharf says few ever experience a return to their original discolored shade. At-home maintenance--with solutions kept fresh in the refrigerator--can keep yellow or gray at bay.
Not everyone is sold on bleaching, however. The American Dental Assn.’s Council on Dental Therapeutics, which evaluates whiteners, has not endorsed the products. Nor has the Food and Drug Administration approved dental bleaching solutions, even though Heinz J. Eiermann, the agency’s director of the Division of Colors and Cosmetics, says it has no data proving the solutions are unsafe. Consequently, many dentists are concerned about whitening systems sold through telemarketing.
Lane, who says he was curious about advertised bleaching treatments, ordered a $50 kit but didn’t see any results after two weeks’ use. “I followed the directions,” he says, “so unless there’s something wrong with my teeth, it didn’t work.”
Others report better results. Actress Deborah Harmon invested in two power-bleaching treatments in time for her May, 1988, wedding. “When your dress is white and your teeth are yellow, they clash,” Harmon jokes. The results eventually faded for Harmon, a coffee drinker, so she recently obtained enough at-home treatments to last a while.
“I don’t want to get veneers if I don’t have to, since my teeth are nicely shaped but just a little dingy,” Harmon says. Her eyeteeth are the first to discolor, so she hopes to prevent new stains by treating those areas individually.
Sami Dinar, owner of a Beverly Hills men’s store, had teeth discolored from food and coffee. Last year, he sought help from his dentist. Now he is undergoing overnight at-home whitening treatments three times a week for about seven hours at a time.
“It is unbelievable,” Dinar says of the difference in his smile. “I was amazed almost immediately. To me, it is like brushing your teeth--if you want your teeth to look good, you do it.”
Teeth re-exposed to staining substances will darken faster than those not re-exposed, dentists say. Even so, the damage, as before, can be undone.
“When people want that party smile, I tell them to use (whitening systems) like makeup,” Scharf says. “Reapplied, the white color comes right back.”
makeup: Mary Micheletti