Professionally Brighten Your Smile
We all want a perfect, sparkling white smile. Yellowed and stained teeth are often a source of embarrassment. While there’s typically nothing unhealthy about discolored teeth, they certainly hold us back from looking and feeling our best. That’s why so many turn to professional teeth whitening techniques.
Over-the-counter kits are expensive and often produce less-than-stellar results. Professional whitening penetrates deeper, leaving your teeth whiter for longer. That’s why Hickman Family Dental offers state-of-the-art teeth whitening for our Des Moines patients.
What Is Professional Teeth Whitening?
Teeth can often go several shades brighter with the new whitening techniques available today. You could go to the local drugstore and buy an at-home whitening kit. You could spend hundreds of dollars trying to do it yourself with sub-par results.
With professional teeth whitening, you can see dramatic results after a single visit to our Des Moines office. Professional teeth whitening can bring your teeth up to eight shades whiter in a single visit. In-office teeth whitening can penetrate deeper below the tooth’s surface, creating stunning results. Our teeth whitening treatments allow more staining to be removed and helps keep your teeth whiter for longer than they would with at-home whitening methods.
At-home whitening kits can cost anywhere from $50-300 and the results may only last a few months. You can spend hours at home bringing your teeth only three to four shades lighter. Over-the-counter whitening kits may deliver the results you’re seeking, but they can also be very inconsistent. Visit our Des Moines, IA office to have your teeth professionally whitened today and see the difference a whitening treatment from our dentists can make.
How Do Teeth Stain?
It can be difficult to point to exactly how each person’s teeth become stained. There are many reasons your teeth can become discolored. A few examples include:
- Foods and beverages — Coffee, tea, wine, soda, and starchy foods such as pizza, pasta, and potatoes can lead to tooth staining. Acidic foods (lemons, coffee, etc) can wear down the enamel on your teeth as well.
- Tobacco use — Smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco can easily stain your teeth.
- Oral trauma — A sports injury, an auto accident, or other facial trauma can disturb enamel formation in children and discolor adult teeth as well.
- Aging — As we age, the outer layer of tooth enamel starts to wear away, exposing the yellow dentin underneath. This leaves our teeth vulnerable to the damage they were once protected from.
- Genetics — Thicker and whiter enamel runs in some families, while others are more susceptible to yellow teeth.
- Environment — During tooth formation, too much fluoride from high levels in water or excessive use of fluoride toothpaste and rinses can cause fluorosis or white spots on the teeth.
- Poor oral hygiene — No one has perfect dental hygiene, but brushing and flossing regularly shouldn’t be skipped. The longer food and beverages are left to sit on teeth, the more time they have to stain.
- Taking certain medications — Many common medications such as painkillers and antibiotics can lead to tooth discoloration over time. Certain medical treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, also list discolored teeth as a side effect.
If you’re unhappy with the way your smile looks and are ready for your teeth to shine, call our Des Moines dentists today at (515) 276-4981 to schedule your consultation!