At-Home Tray System Tooth Whitening Instructions - Wheaton Cosmetic Dentist (2024)

A technique is now available for whitening your teeth at home. The whitening procedure works best for teeth that have a yellow shade, although it can work to a lesser extent with teeth that have a gray shade or tetracycline discoloration ( for darker teeth ASK about our KOR DEEP BLEACHING option) . A tray will be constructed from an impression that is taken of your teeth. This will hold the whitening solution against your teeth. The general instructions for tooth whitening are as follows. They may be slightly modified by us to suit your particular needs.

1. Before using the tooth whitening gel, brush and floss your teeth. Rinse your mouth.
2. As demonstrated, place a small amount of whitening gel into the trays in each tooth to be whitened. You do not need to whiten your molars. They are not seen when you smile. Fillings and crowns do not need to be bleached as they will not change color.
3. Insert trays as instructed, allowing the excess material to extrude. Spit out the excess solution. If there is much to spit out, place less bleach in the tray at the next application.
4. Wear the trays as instructed. Keep them in place for 1 hour. at a minimum. You may sleep with the trays overnight for those who have less sensititivy. Follow this routine each day until the whitening gel we supply is finished. You may wear the trays with the whitening solution during anytime of the day. Please be consistent for best results. Do not eat, drink or smoke while wearing your trays. The length of time to wear the trays and how much you can wear the tray depends entirely on your comfort. If there is no tooth sensitivity, you can wear the trays as often as you want. If you start to develop tooth sensitivity,stopwearing the trays until the sensitivity is gone (a day or two at most), and then begin again.
5. Do not eat or drink for 30 minutes after you have removed the trays and finished the whitening session. After each use, rinse them out with water, dry it, and store it on the models. Please also brush your teeth to remove the whitening gel left behind.
6. Note any changes you might see in your gums and be sure to bring this immediately to our attention. Any sensitivity or alteration in their appearance is temporary.
7. Home whitening must only be done under the supervision of a dentist. >
8. Because the oxidation of teeth is so variable from person to person, there is absolutely no way to determine how much color change can be expected or how long it may take to achieve the color change. Expect that it can take as little as 2 to 3 hours and as long as 6 weeks for teeth that are especially dark. This time frame, of course, depends on how often you wear the trays filled with whitening gel. If you do the procedure for 1 hour every other day, it will take twice as long to finish as if you do it for 1 hour every day. If you skip a few days, it will not affect the final result. The ultimate color change will be the same whether you take 1 week or 1 month or longer. The important aspect in this is the contact time of the tray and gel with the teeth to be lightened.
9. The lighter tooth color you see immediately after the whitening process is finished will regress one shade darker over 1 to 3 months, with most of the regression evident after the first week. Lower teeth may take longer to whiten than top teeth.
10. Your eating and drinking habits and resident chromogenic bacteria will determine the duration of the whitening effect. Most patients maintain a satisfactory result for 3 to 7 years. If you smoke, drink a lot of tea, coffee, colas, red wine, etc., your teeth will, over extended time, darken again.Keep your whitening trays in a safe place.At some point you may decide to “touch up” your teeth, by whitening for a short duration. Touch ups do not take as long or require as much whitening product.
11. If you are going to have fillings replaced, you should wait at least 2 weeks after the whitening is completed for the tooth color to stabilize before new restorations are placed.

If you have any questions about mouthguard tooth whitening, please feel free to ask us.

Thank you.