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Cosmetic Dentistry - Tooth Whitening

There are two main types of tooth whitening, so called "vital" bleaching and "non-vital" bleaching. The difference is that vital bleaching (tooth whitening) is carried out on normal healthy teeth and usually involves all anterior teeth. Non-vital bleaching is done on root-filled teeth by the dentist, this usually only involves a single tooth.

Vital tooth whitening is a very popular treatment in many countries, especially the USA, and is becoming rapidly more commonplace here.
It may be advisable to have the teeth cleaned by the hygienist first.

Additionally teeth can be whitened using a tray system that the patient undertakes at home. Most patients however opt for in-surgery whitening nowadays as it is quicker and easier.
Treatment typically involves about 3 visits and the actual bleaching part takes about 8 days.

Whilst the effect of the treatment does not "wear off", obviously teeth can become stained and discoloured again, especially if exposed to tobacco smoke, tea/coffee, red wine etc.

The exact degree of whitening varies depending on the cause of the discolouration and the dentist can advise you of the likely improvement before treatment. Generally we whiten all the teeth at the same time, but it can be possible to simply whiten a few teeth.