How you feel about your appearance affects all parts of your life, because your self-perception and your self-esteem are inextricably intertwined. And there are few parts of your appearance that are more important than your smile. It’s the first thing people notice about you; it can make you appear friendly and welcoming or unsure and cold.
Dr. Stephen Hiroshige and his staff understand the power of your smile, and we want to help you harness and use that power to improve your life. If you aren’t comfortable with your smile, one of the best places to make a change could be with getting those pearly whites… well, pearly again.
A number of factors can combine to cause your teeth to lose their luminescent shine and begin to look dull, gray, yellow, or brown. Happily, Dr. Hiroshige can help you regain the bright beauty of your smile. We offer medically supervised, at-home whitening treatments.
When you come to our office to talk about teeth whitening, we first perform an examination to make sure you’re a good candidate for the procedure. You may need to have some work done prior to whitening, if you have decay or bacteria buildup. However, taking care of those things means you’ll have vastly improved oral health to go along with your transformed smile.
Once Dr. Hiroshige has determined your mouth is ready for whitening treatments, he makes impressions of your teeth so that he can create whitening trays made especially to fit your mouth. The trays fit perfectly on your teeth, which means the whitening solution stays in contact with them so that your gums are protected as your teeth get whiter.
We demonstrate how you use the trays and the solution, and you take them home. Dr. Hiroshige determines how long you need to wear the trays each day (it’s usually an hour or less) and for how many days. Most people use the solution for a few weeks to achieve the results they want.
The same forces that originally caused discoloration of your teeth can ruin the effects of your whitening treatments, too. Here are a few tips on keeping your flashy:
This means brushing at least twice a day, flossing once a day, and visiting our office for regular cleanings.
Coffee, red wine, blueberries, and marinara sauce are just a few of the kinds of foods and beverages that can stain your teeth. You may want to consider brushing immediately after a meal that could cause staining or using a straw with drinks that could result in staining.
Smoking causes lots of health issues, as you no doubt know. Did you know that it also stains your teeth? Not smoking is one of the best things you can do to protect your health and your smile.
Certain medications can cause discoloration of your teeth, so you may want to talk to your doctor and find out if that’s a side effect of any medicines you take.
Are you ready to learn more? Schedule an appointment with Dr. Hiroshige to find out how professional whitening can transform your smile, improve your confidence, and change your life!
