Tag: teeth whitening

Dental Blog posts, information and advice which mention Teeth whitening Harrow. Most people want to have teeth that aren’t brown, yellow or badly stained. Teeth whitening is often the first port of call.

Top tips for whiter teeth without treatment

Most people want to have teeth that aren’t brown, yellow or badly stained. Teeth whitening is often the first port of call but there are also many things you can do at home, come to that, there are many things you can avoid at home to help you have whiter looking teeth.

We’ve broken the list down into:

  • Things you SHOULD do for whiter looking teeth
  • Things you should NOT do
  • Things you might want to consider
  • Things to avoid when looking for whiter teeth

We then finish off our list with one final secret for whiter looking teeth… Read on to find out more.

Things you SHOULD do

In order to have the whitest looking teeth without going for teeth whitening treatments we recommend:

 

  • Watching your oral health care routine. If you keep your teeth clean then plaque will not build up, stains adhere more to plaque then they do to tooth enamel so if your teeth are clean then they are more likely to look whiter.
  • Using an electric toothbrush. It has been shown that using an electric toothbrush means you are more likely to clean your teeth adequately. Many electric toothbrushes have a timer pressure sensor to ensure you don’t press too hard and clean for the right amount of time.
  • Cleaning in between your teeth. By using floss or an incidental brush you will keep your teeth cleaner and prevent the buildup of plaque which can look dark, yellow or discoloured.

Things you should NOT do

As well as taking positive action to do things to keep your teeth looking monitor, there are also things which we recommend you should not do:

  • Smoking. Smoking dries out your mouth, if the mouth is dry it has less saliva and it is saliva which neutralises the acid from the bacteria. This means that smokers are more likely to have tooth decay which can look dark, brown or black. If you have plaque buildup around your teeth then smoking will also discolour this plaque giving your teeth are very yellow look.
  • Avoid anything that can stain, think of your teeth like a white T-shirt, anything that can stain the T-shirt can stain your teeth! That doesn’t mean stopping eating food which is healthy for you, it just means think about how much you eat and cleaning your teeth afterwards.

Things you might want to consider

In addition to things you definitely should or should not do there are a few extra things which you may want to consider in your pursuit of whiter teeth.

  • Eating Strawberries. Now we don’t mean eating tons of strawberries every day, however strawberries contain malic acid, in small doses it has been shown that malic acid can whiten teeth… But don’t go overboard as it is also an acid and can actually damaged teeth if used too much.
  • Eating crispy or firm food can clean your teeth naturally as you go. Eat them towards the end of the meal as they will then help to naturally clean your teeth with their rough and crunchy edges, think about things like carrots or celery.
  • Chewing gum after eating stimulates production of saliva which neutralises and cleans your teeth by washing away debris. Always use a sugarfree gum.

Things to avoid when looking for whiter teeth

  • Coconut oil pulling. This seems to be a modern trend but there is no evidence to show that coconut oil whitens teeth in any way at all. In fact, some toothpastes are now including coconut oil but may not include enough fluoride. In this instance, this can lead to tooth decay due to a lack of fluoride. The same also applies to activated charcoal.
  • Beauty salon whitening. people often believe that you can go to a beauty salon for teeth whitening, however teeth whitening is not legal for anyone other than a dentist (or a dental hygienist or dental therapist working to prescription of the dentist) to carry out tooth whitening.
  • Using hydrogen peroxide/bleach. Whilst teeth whitening gel at a dental practice utilises hydrogen peroxide it does so in an extremely controlled and limited way. Using home bleach or any other form of non-dental hydrogen peroxide without the strict supervision or control of the dentist can be extremely dangerous as the soft tissue/gums can burn easily.

A final secret for whiter looking teeth

So here is our final secret for whiter looking teeth… Wear red lipstick! It’s a tip used by many celebrity and make up artist as the red lipstick forms a contrasting frame around your teeth making them look whiter.

red lipstick and white teeth

Image credit: Miki Hayes 2.19.15  https://www.bustle.com

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

I’m not happy with my smile, what are my options for cosmetic dentistry?

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

We find that many people are looking for options to restore their smile but simply don’t know what those options are. This blog post has been written to allow you to understand what the options are available, possible prices, the procedures and what to expect from cosmetic dentistry.

Cosmetic dentistry is broadly broken down into 4 main areas.

  1. Straightening crooked teeth.
  2. Whitening dark teeth.
  3. Restoring broken down teeth.
  4. Replacing missing teeth.

Let’s look at each of these areas in turn.

Options to straighten crooked teeth.

As with many areas of dentistry there is in one simple way of doing this, which actually works as an advantage as it means that you can choose the best approach for you. We thought one of the easiest ways to break these treatments down Is to look at treatment time is and how quick you could have straight teeth again.

Straight teeth in around 2 to 3 weeks

If you’re looking to have straight teeth in the quickest time possible them possibly dental veneers are the way forwards. Dental veneers are a precision made thin-layer which fit over the surface of your existing teeth. They made from a high-strength dental ceramic by a highly skilled dental technician and so often come with a higher pricetag than many other options.

Dental veneers can also be used to restore broken down teeth and whiten dark teeth, so at the same time straightening them you could end up with a perfect Hollywood smile at the same time!

teeth-veneers

One of the big disadvantages with dental veneers are that they often require some form of reduction of your natural teeth underneath. Many dentists prefer to work on a minimally invasive nature, whilst dental veneers are relatively minimally invasive they do still often require drilling of your natural tooth.

If your natural tooth is otherwise healthy then you need to know that some of this may be reduced in order to accept the new dental veneer.

Before cosmetic dentistry from our Harrow dentists
Before dental veneers
After cosmetic dentistry
After dental veneers

>> Read more blog posts about dental veneers

>> Information from the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry about dental veneers

Straighter teeth in around 12 to 16 weeks

One of the disadvantages of dental veneers is the fact that they often require a small amount of reduction of your natural tooth. Whenever possible we prefer to keep your natural teeth fully intact and so this is where the next treatment to straighten teeth comes in, it involves moving them with orthodontics and the technique which is fastest is known as the Inman Aligner.

The Inman aligner is a revolutionary new technique whereby a removable orthodontic appliance is used to push and pull your teeth in the correct direction. You need to be committed with your Inman aligner and wear it for at least 20 hours per day, removing it only for cleaning and eating.

Here’s a video of how the Inman aligner works by pushing and pulling at the same time.

>> more information on the Inman aligner

Straight teeth in around six months.

Many people dislike the fact that the Inman aligner, whilst being rapid, is a removable appliance. Some people prefer to have a fixed appliance. Fixed appliance orthodontics are generally able to move teeth slightly more than a removable appliance and the one that we prefer is Six Month Smiles.

This orthodontic system uses fixed, tooth coloured brackets to move your teeth around six months, this is much faster than conventional orthodontics which often takes between one and two years. The reason we can move the teeth quicker is down to a revolutionary type of bracket and the fact that we are often only moving the front teeth.

 

Before Six Month Smiles

 

After Six Month Smiles

>> more information on Six Month Smiles

 Cosmetic dentistry to whiten dark teeth

You have two options to whiten dark teeth:

  1. Teeth whitening.
  2. Dental veneers.

Teeth whitening and cosmetic dentistry

Teeth whitening is one of the most easily accessible treatments in dentistry as it can be offered to almost anyone. So long as you have natural teeth (dental veneers or crowns cannot be whitened) and you are in good dental health then you are more than likely candidate of teeth whitening.

As with any dental treatment it is absolutely vital that you are in good dental health before embarking on any programme of whitening. This is one of the reasons it is important to visit your dental practice to have your whitening treatment, if your gums are unhealthy or perhaps bleed on contact then this can affect the whitening process and inflame any gum disease you may already have.

The clear teeth whitening tray
The clear teeth whitening tray

Teeth whitening works by placing a small amount of peroxide gel in contact with your teeth. This peroxide whitening gel is held in place by close-fitting and precision made bleaching tray which is the spoke to you and cannot be used with anybody else. These trays need to be made with absolute precision.

They need to seal around the age of your tooth/gum margin to ensure that none of the peroxide gel touches your sensitive gums. This is another reason why we recommend going to see your dentist for whitening, they can accurately make sure that this tray fits precisely prior to beginning any treatment.

You will typically wear your teeth whitening bleaching trays overnight for approximately 2 weeks. The good thing with the treatment is that if you experience too much sensitivity or you reach your desired tooth colour then you can stop treatment immediately.

Dental veneers for whitening teeth

If your teeth are extremely dark, perhaps because they have died then we may find that whitening is not adequate to get them to the shade required. If this is the case then dental veneers can be used to cover up the dark teeth underneath.

Before restoration with veneers to whiten teeth

 

After restoration with dental veneers

Restoring broken down teeth in cosmetic dentistry

We’ve already discussed the ability for dental veneers to straighten crooked teeth and white and dark teeth, they can also be used to restore broken down teeth. Because we’ve already spoken about dental veneers we’re going to focus our attention now on dental crowns.

Dental crownsA dental crown is a precision made and highly aesthetic replacement for the natural crown of your tooth. The most aesthetic ones are made from pure high-strength dental great ceramic which is extremely long lasting and can withstand the force is exerted when you eat and chew.

Your dentist will remove any decayed area of tooth, prepare the remaining teeth and take an impression which will be sent off to the dental technician. The dental technician, who was a highly skilled member of the dental team will then make your new crown to fit exactly over the stump which the dentist has prepared.

This whole process takes approximately 2 weeks from start to finish, was the technician is making a new crown you will be supplied with a temporary crown.

Replacing missing teeth in cosmetic dentistry

We’ve written blog post in the past offering top tips for people wanting to replace missing teeth, so we’re not going to spend too much time here talking about this. What is important to know is that replacing missing teeth can also be done in conjunction with other forms of cosmetic dentistry.

If you have missing tooth it may be that in order to replace it we need to create more space, if this is true then we may use orthodontics to move the surrounding teeth around to create enough space. You may also want to restore broken down teeth and white and other teeth at the same time as replacing missing teeth. This then becomes a more complex form of cosmetic dentistry with complicated procedures.

If you’re going to have these more complex procedures we recommend you search for your cosmetic dentist on the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry website, in the search facility if you type in Nishan Dixit and enter the area as Harrow you will find that he is a full member of the Academy who has been qualified for more than three years, demonstrated a commitment cosmetic dentistry by fulfilling their strict requirements which include attendance at meetings and ongoing postgraduate education in subjects relevant to the practice of cosmetic dentistry.

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Dr Nishan Dixit runs a dental practice in the heart of Harrow offering cosmetic dentistry  to the local people. The practice offers a free cosmetic dentistry consultation with the treatment co-ordinator, please complete the relevant form here 

 

Who said I’m camera shy !

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

IMG_7103 IMG_7106 IMG_7124 IMG_7113 IMG_7108

“Please make me look nice for my daughter’s big day!”  These were the words of a loving mother who desperately wanted nice teeth for what was going to be one of the most important days of her life, her daughter’s wedding.   For most of her life,  she had lived with a smile she was very unhappy with.  Her top teeth were very uneven and discoloured.  The  old existing crowns towards the back of the mouth  had began to deteriorate, as well as a tooth which had become very stained and unsightly.   The gap in between her front  two teeth always seemed to draw attention to her not so great smile.  This  made her feel very self conscious and even embarrassed.   She would never smile in front of the camera,  and even in general conversation,  she would raise her hand to cover her mouth.  Friends and family always thought she was very quiet, but in reality, she lacked so much confidence that smiling, laughing and even talking was something she found very difficult.    She wanted a smile that would make  her  look and feel great.

With careful thought and planning, Dr Dixit achieved this transformation by using a combination of all ceramic crowns and veneers.  To make the teeth brighter , the teeth were whitened using the home whitening system.  The heavily filled teeth were protected with new crowns and the new veneers helped to improve the shape and position of the teeth.  The colour was matched exactly to the patients new teeth colour.  The crowns and veneers were made to look as natural as possible.

IMG_8254 IMG_8257 IMG_8159 IMG_8153 IMG_8259

The patient was very pleased with the results.   It had given her so much  confidence that she felt like a new woman.  She looked and felt amazing.  The discoloured front tooth and filling had gone and the visible black lines were no longer there.  She finally had the smile she always wanted.

 

 

What’s the Best Way to Whiten My Teeth?

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

Smiling woman Many people are looking for that brighter, whiter smile but did you know that research (1)  seems to indicate that it’s not actually a white smile which people find attractive, rather, it is a yellow smile which people find unattractive.

The researchers found that:

Whitening had no effect beyond that produced by natural colouration. This indicates that these colour induced alterations in ratings of attractiveness are mediated by increased/decreased yellowing rather than whitening per se.

As we get older our teeth yellow with age and whitening them back to their natural colouration is all that is required to achieve the most attractive smile, so what is the best way to whiten your teeth?

The best way to whiten teeth.

Here’s a simple list:

  1. Good oral hygiene.
  2. Over-the-counter teeth whitening products.
  3. Home teeth whitening.
  4. Restorative treatments such as immediate veneers, dental veneers dental crowns.

Good oral hygiene.

The first step to enjoying whiter teeth is to maintain good oral hygiene. Firstly this will help keep your natural teeth as white as possible, if plaque (2) is kept at bay then staining is less likely to build up on your teeth. Secondly, before you have any of the other teeth whitening treatments you’ll need to ensure that your teeth and gums are in good condition. Most dentists will not offer any form of cosmetic or whitening treatment if you’re oral hygiene is not up to scratch!

Over-the-counter teeth whitening products.

There are many products available to buy over-the-counter in your local pharmacy, However, the Daily Mail (3) says:

Experts warn that some products which claim to whiten could actually harm your teeth, gums and even your stomach lining.

jailed_OPT

While some of these products may work their effectiveness and safety isn’t monitored by a dental professional and therefore they come with some risk if you use them at home.

Another trend in teeth whitening is to go to beauty salons or other establishments other than a dental practice. Whilst this may be cheaper than going to a dentist it is also illegal! Teeth whitening falls under the category of “the practice of dentistry”, the General Dental Council (4) says:

The practice of dentistry is limited to GDC registrants. It is the Council’s view that applying materials and carrying out procedures designed to improve the aesthetic appearance of teeth amounts to the practice of dentistry. So too does the giving of clinical advice about such procedures. Therefore all tooth whitening procedures, including bleach and laser treatment, are seen as the practice of dentistry by the General Dental Council.

 

It is important to know the teeth whitening products contain an amount of peroxide, this peroxide can be dangerous if not used correctly and it is for this reason that we recommend you only visit a suitably qualified dental professional for your teeth whitening.

Home teeth whitening.

teeth-bleaching-tray-300x196When you have home teeth whitening you will be provided with a custom made and closed fitting bleaching tray, into this tray you will apply the bleaching gel which is held against your teeth.This bleaching tray has some unique features:

  1. It will be extremely close-fitting ensuring that you use the minimum amount of gel with each application, this means the gel goes further and lasts longer.
  2. The tray is customised for you, it can only be used by you.
  3. It will put a very slight amount of pressure around the tooth/gum margin. This is to create a seal in this area to prevent the peroxide gel from touching your sensitive gums.

These design features are extremely important to ensure that the treatment is not only effective but safe too, only a qualified dental professional is able to prescribe one of these trays.

Something to watch out for, the bleaching tray is made from a thermoplastic, this means you will need to keep tray away from hot/warm water as it could distort.

Restorative treatments such as veneers or crowns.

In some extreme cases with very dark teeth conventional teeth whitening is not able to lighten the teeth enough.

Before treatment
After treatment

As you can see from the case above these teeth were particularly dark and the patient wanted them particularly liked, there was also another complication, and existing Crown on the front tooth. Dental crowns and veneers cannot be lightened with teeth whitening techniques, so if you have an existing restoration then this will need to be replaced as part of the whitening process.

This lady wanted to improve her smile, have it more natural looking and whiter than it was before so we prepared her teeth for porcelain crowns to achieve an excellent result, what do you think?

>> Read more about this case here

Summary

Many times a combination of treatments can be used to whiten your teeth, you may have a single tooth which is too dark to whiten using the bleaching method, but we may be able to whiten the surrounding teeth and then use a single dental veneer or crown on the very dark tooth to whiten that the same shade.

The cost of teeth whitening treatments will also vary enormously depending on the complexity of your case. To give you an idea of dental fees please visit our fee guide. By far the cheapest way of maintaining unnaturally bright smile is to keep your teeth in excellent dental health. This will keep plaque at bay and ensure that the buildup of any staining on your teeth is kept to a minimum. The next most cost-effective method is to consider teeth bleaching however this is not always suitable for the reasons already stated.

Teeth Whitening References:

  1. “Evidence to Suggest That Teeth Act as Human Ornament Displays Signalling Mate Quality”  Colin A. Hendrie, Gayle Brewer  Published: July 31, 2012DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042178  http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0042178 site accessed 18/12/14
  2. Information on Plaque From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_plaque site accessed 18/12/14
  3. The Daily Mail: DIY dazzlers: High Street tooth whiteners put to the test Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1282977/DIY-dazzlers-High-Street-tooth-whiteners-test.htm site accessed 18/12/14
  4. General Dental Council : Tooth whitening Q and A’s. http://www.gdc-uk.org/dentalprofessionals/standards/pages/tooth-whitening.aspx site accessed 18/12/14

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Blue Court Dental Centre is a local dentist in the heart of Harrow, Middlesex. They offer a range of dental treatments including teeth whitening, dental veneers and oral hygiene programs to help keep your teeth looking fresh and bright for life.

Teeth Whitening – An Honest Review

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

With more and more people looking for cosmetic dentistry, particularly teeth whitening in the Harrow area we thought we would write an article which outlines some of the problems faced by the general public when looking to have whiter teeth.

Driving down the cost of teeth whitening

whitening-productsTeeth whitening is often viewed as a quick fix and many people are looking for the cheapest option. This has driven many patients to the idea of whitening their teeth at home – just doing a search for teeth whiteners on Amazon brings up a whole host of options including home whitening kits, elastic gel whitening strips, advanced teeth whitening programs, toothpastes, laser lights and whitening pens.

Amazingly some of these products start from as low as 30p for the plasma whitening light and £3.17 for the whitening pens so it is easy to understand why the temptation is there. Here’s more detailed information on that search on Amazon.

Also reported in the Harrow Times a couple of years ago was a trading standards report which carried out tests on some DIY whitening products and found some of them contained 7.3% hydrogen peroxide which is way over 0.1% legal limit.

We’re aren’t suggesting that any of these products shown here contain these unacceptable levels of hydrogen peroxide, but it’s worth noting that when you purchase things on the Internet you don’t always know exactly what you’re getting as everything is unregulated.

Going to a Beauty Salon for Teeth Whitening

Whilst whitening clearly falls within the realms of helping one’s self look and feel better it is worth noting that the General Dental Council (GDC) say:

“We believe that teeth whitening is part of the practice of dentistry and dentistry must only been carried out by the professionals that are registered with us…”

This means that if you have your teeth whitened by anyone other than a dental professional it could be considered illegal and prosecution could follow. The process of whitening teeth uses hydrogen peroxide to bleach them, whilst this is in a very low concentration it needs to be carefully controlled around your delicate gum area. The way this is controlled is by manufacturing a highly customised and bespoke ‘tray’ which fits over your own teeth, this tray is designed in such a way to prevent leaking of the bleaching gel into the gum area.

The manufacture of these trays is something which needs to be undertaken by professional that knows exactly how to design them to prevent damage to your delicate gum.

jailed_OPTTeeth whitening is also not suitable for everyone, you need to have good oral hygiene and be free of certain dental diseases. Only a trained dental professional will be able to tell if your oral health care routine is good enough to have whitening, we have even seen cases where patients have had teeth whitening by non-dental professionals and that patient’s teeth was covered in plaque. The results of this was that it wasn’t the teeth which were whitened, but the plaque, and this will pick up staying again very quickly.

A dental professional would recognise this problem early on and recommend a course of oral hygiene education/treatment before the teeth whitening is carried out.

In rare circumstances we have also seen teeth whitening performed by non-dental professionals to cause burning of the gums. This can happen if the customised whitening tray does not fit well enough, once again it takes a fully trained dental professional to recognise this problem at an early stage.

The problem of non-dental professionals undertaking teeth whitening has become so great that a new organisation has come into formation.

TWIG_Logo_OPT

The teeth whitening information group (TWIG) is a group of dental professionals and manufacturers who are concerned about the problem of harmful, illegal products and unqualified people carrying out teeth whitening. They offer a useful information leaflet and a facility to report any illegal teeth whitening happening around Harrow area and beyond.

If you notice any non-dental professional offering teeth whitening please do contact TWIG 

So, what do you do if you want safe teeth whitening?

The only way to know for sure that you will be safe during teeth whitening is to visit a dentist. This dental professional will have a detailed understanding of your oral health and be able to advise if teeth whitening is suitable for you. Unfortunately it’s not always that simple this article in the mail online talks about how one patient spent £600 on teeth whitening and saw no result at all, and that was with a dentist. Results can vary and can never be 100% guaranteed so we recommend asking any dentist that you go to see for before and after photographs of happy patients.

You also need to feel that you can trust your dentist, so ask them about the risks, discuss with them the possibility that the whitening may not work and what would happen then. Being open and honest with your dentist before any treatment is the best way to ensure that you get the excellent teeth whitening result that you will be looking for.

Summary

Having said all of that teeth whitening remains one of the easiest ways to look and feel more confident with your smile. It is generally available to anyone with a healthy dentition and with all of their own teeth (if you have crowns, veneers or white fillings then these will not whiten so you will need to discuss with your dentist the possibility of having them replaced after your natural teeth have been bleached).

When carried out by dental professional it is also one of the most predictable and safe techniques available in modern dentistry, you will find that many dentists have had their own teeth whitening in their own practice, and that says a lot in itself about how good the procedure can be when carried out by a dental professional…

 

I want to change the colour of my teeth

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

This patient wanted to improve his smile by changing his discoloured teeth to a brighter natural white.  To achieve this result, the teeth were bleached using the home whitening system. This is  a highly effective way of lightening the natural colour of the teeth without removing any of the ttoth surface.

The treatment took approximately 2 weeks, leaving the patient delighted with the end result.

 

 

 

 

Who wants a B1 Tooth Shade?

We’ve seen many patients asking for the lightest teeth possible when they come to our practice in Harrow for teeth whitening, so we thought we write a blog post explaining more about the tooth shading system that we use, and how light is a B1  shade compared to an A3?

Many teeth whitening products on the market suggest that they can lighten teeth by 20 or 30 shades, however it all depends how you wish to grade those shades and how close together one decides to make them. Many times, all these companies do is add extra shades as half shades thereby increasing the number of shades they can lighten your teeth!

B1 tooth shade
Comparing a B1 tooth shade to a standard A3.5 colour

The professional way to monitor teeth whitening and how light your teeth are is by using an industry standard guide, rather than by making one up.

The normal tooth  shade  guide has four main categories – A, B, C, D. These range from yellowish, reddish tooth shades, through to greyer teeth.

Then within these categories there are up to 4 lightness shades – 1, 2, 3 & 4 with number 1 being the lightest.

There are a few variances of this, however to keep things simple this is the basic principle of how we measure tooth colour.

The average shade for a tooth is A3, this is considered a normal colour and around 70% of the population have natural teeth which are within this range.

A B1 shade is considerably lighter than A3 and is generally considered the lightest naturally occurring shade. However, with the advent of tooth whitening patient driven shades are now getting considerably lighter than this, and are often called Hollywood white shades. About 10 years ago if you asked the dentist to whiten your teeth to a B1 shade then this would have been considered very bright, however with more and more celebrities having their teeth whitening or even having veneers to an ultra-white colour this has driven popular public conception to consider that B1 is no longer white enough.

 

Our Harrow-based cosmetic dental practice is happy to discuss with you your current tooth colour shade and how light your teeth could possibly go with teeth whitening. We can look at a B1 shade compared to your current shade to see if this is too light for your skin tone and overall complexion. The practice in Harrow is easy to find and there is normally plenty of parking on the street outside.

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

John Bishop has teeth whitening

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

Latest posts by Dr Nishan Dixit (see all)

the comedian John Bishop enjoys teeth whitening

The comedian John Bishop has recently had teeth whitening, a process where we can apply a small amount of whitening gel to your teeth to remove dark and yellow staining in order that your teeth can be beautifully white again.

teeth whitening is an increasingly popular option for people in the public eye, or for those who are concerned about their appearance. So long as you have all of your natural teeth, and don’t have a veneer or Crown at the front it is more than likely that you are suitable for a teeth whitening procedure.

Your smile is the most important feature of your face, as this is what people tend to notice first. In fact John Bishop has been quoted as saying on Radio Fours Desert Island discs:

“They are my real teeth! I’ve had them whitened, because my teeth probably account for about 30 per cent of my head,”

What other types of teeth whitening available?

Teeth whitening in Harrow is available from Blue Court Dental using either home teeth whitening or dental tooth whitening.  Home teeth whitening allows you to easily control the amount of whitening that you want, you simply use the whitening trays with a small amount of bleaching gel each day until you reach your desired whiteness. You can also stop whitening if your teeth come too sensitive.

Teeth whitening works by applying a small amount of gel to your teeth which then breaks up the stains and discolouration. This gel is held in place by seeing, clear whitening tray which is made to fit precisely over your teeth.

Blue Court Dental Centre provides teeth whitening in Harrow for the local people.