A woman smiling wide while holding a teeth whitening strip
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How Long Does Teeth Whitening Last

Everybody wants to have those sparkling white teeth for a perfect smile. However, not everyone can afford professional dental teeth whitening procedures. This is why many people use at-home teeth whitening products. Some dentists discourage it, while some endorse it. So which one is for you?

Understanding tooth discoloration

Discolorations caused by certain dental conditions such as tartar, will require dental treatment for effective removal. Many stains can be removed by either over-the-counter at-home teeth whitening products or professional whitening treatments. But how long can the effect of these products or treatment procedures last? 

Well, it varies based on different factors such as the type of whitening product and your lifestyle. Also, the whitening effect varies on the type of stain that you have. 

Two types of teeth stains:

  • Intrinsic (internally caused) – caused by certain medications, aging, infection, trauma, etc. This type of stain can be harder to remove, but can be done with the right treatment.
  • Extrinsic (externally caused) – caused by stain-causing beverages and food. Most teeth whiteners work on this type of stain.

At-home teeth whitening products vs. Dentist teeth whitening procedures

There are numerous at-home teeth whitening products available out there and they vary in types, applications and quality. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the most common OTC teeth whitening products and how long they can last. 

At Home Teeth Whitening Products

Whitening toothpaste

Whitening toothpastes contain active ingredients such as hydrogen peroxide, carbamide peroxide, and some mild adhesives to polish and whiten the teeth. 

When used twice daily, whitening toothpaste takes 2 to 6 weeks before signs of whitening appear. Its effects can last 3 to 4 months. To prolong its benefits, simply continue using the toothpaste. 

Note: If you plan on using this long-term, try alternating it with toothpaste designed to strengthen and protect the enamel of your teeth. 

teeth whitening toothpaste

Whitening mouthwash

Designed to remove small amounts of surface stains and is best used alongside whitening toothpaste, and to prolong in-office professional teeth whitening procedures. It contains hydrogen peroxide and recommended to be used daily.

Whitening strips

The effects of strips vary from one product to the next, but usually last up to 6 months. They are considered as the most effective at-home teeth whitening alternative. They contain hydrogen peroxide to slowly bleach the teeth. Some come with LED accelerator lights to intensify the stain removal.

This product, however, can be harmful to the teeth when used too often or incorrectly.

Whitening pens

The whitening effect of pens can be apparent in as fast as 2 days to a week. However, these are usually not long-lasting and only minimal.

Whitening gels

Results of whitening gel trays can be seen in as fast as 7 days, and results can be long lasting, up to 12 months or longer depending on how often you use the whitening trays. The effect varies from the length of time it is worn, and the amount of hydrogen peroxide used. However, when combined with good oral hygiene and supervision from your dentist, this is one of the best at-home teeth whitening treatments out there. 

Dentist teeth whitening procedures

In-Office Teeth Whitening (chairside whitening)

Teeth bleaching is an affordable cosmetic dental procedure. It removes years of stains in as fast as a single dental appointment. 

It involves the use of a strong bleach (highly concentrated carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide), and light to accelerate the bleaching process. 

If you maintain good oral hygiene, its benefits could last up to 3 years.

Laser teeth whitening

This involves the use of lasers to activate the bleaching agent and whiten the teeth. The dentist will cover and protect the gums and lips and then coat the teeth with peroxide gel. Laser teeth whitening can whiten the teeth for up to eight shades and offer better results than any over-the-counter products with results lasting for several months.

laser dental teeth whitening

Is teeth whitening safe?

Teeth whitening products, both at-home and professional, are generally safe. However, since the whitening agents cause a dehydration to the teeth, it commonly cause sensitivity to the teeth and gums. This is usually temporary as the teeth rehydrate over the following 24 hours after ceasing the whitening treatment. 

Other side effects include:

  • Irritation and gum burns – This is common with at-home gel tray and chairside whitening. This can be avoided with custom fitted trays. Also, irritations are usually mild and temporary.
  • Gum whitening – The gums can be bleached as well and may temporarily lose their colour. 
  • Gastrointestinal distress or irritation – Swallowing whitening products can cause burning mild sensation to the throat and may lead to stomach ache
  • Damaged tooth enamel – Though research is still inconclusive, abrasive compounds can cause surface grooves and can lead to thinning of the enamel, especially with strong abrasives and bleaching solutions.

It is important to note that teeth whitening treatments, whether over-the-counter or in-office, are designed to reduce stain, not repel. Thus, it is still very important to practice good oral hygiene habits during and after the whitening treatment. 

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Teeth Implants from your North Sydney Dentists – The Titanium Difference

Our knowledge of early methods used in dentistry over time is always evolving with new discoveries. Archaeologists have been chronicling our different methods of coping with dental maladies throughout human history, and it offers us a fascinating timeline.

One common issue has become obvious over this time frame. A tooth that has been lost leaves a socket behind, and our primitive replacements – with a few remarkable exceptions – simply refused to knit to the jawbone properly. We experimented with stone, wood, animal teeth, shells, and bitumen, but it wasn’t until much later that we finally found our saving grace. The answer lay in the remarkable properties of titanium.

Titanium screws now feature in every dental implant that we insert at our North Sydney practice. Their unique quality allows them to not only tolerate an existence within our bodies, but thrive – to the point that they actually encourage bone growth around the screw, through a biological process called biointegration. When inserted in to a socket, any other material will cause the bone to essentially ‘reject’ the substance, and the bone recedes. But with titanium, the bone grows around it, securing it as it does with natural teeth.

The properties of this metal are now not limited to dentistry. They are found throughout the world of implants and reconstructive surgery, and it is owed a great deal of thanks from a wide variety of patients. Dentists in North Sydney, and around the world, owe this substance many thanks for the successful insertion of dental prosthetics.

For more information on dental implants from your North Sydney experts at KB Village Dental, contact us today, and book your appointment.

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Are there Risks to North Sydney Teeth Whitening?

Teeth whitening is among the most common procedures that we perform for our patients here in North Sydney. It is a quick and easy method of brightening your smile and encouraging a youthful visage, and thousands of Sydneysiders partake in it every year. However, questions often arise about its level of safety.

One of the reasons for this is due to the fact that many practices do not recommend such a procedure for pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers. This has given people the misconception that these procedures could be harmful, but this is not true. This recommendation is purely precautionary. There is no evidence that teeth whitening is harmful.

That said, teeth whitening must be done properly. Excessive use of hydrogen peroxide gels or too many applications can result in tooth sensitivity, as the chemical must penetrate in to the enamel to provide a lasting colour change. Sensible uses of this procedure are the best guard against such problems.

Combining whitening procedures with basic tooth care is a great method of ensuring your teeth will not suffer from teeth whitening. Starting with clean teeth, as stain-free as possible, will help the procedure to take hold and operate to its fullest potential.

Teeth whitening for North Sydney, when done properly, is a risk-free method of gaining a whiter, brighter smile, one that you will be more tempted to flash throughout your day. To find out more about our various methods of whitening your smile, give us a call.

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Your Emergency Dentist for North Sydney on the Importance of Mouthguards

The humble mouthguard has been around for over a century. Originally developed in Germany, they were intended to prevent lip lacerations among boxers. Their usefulness was quickly found to extend beyond this.

Roughly one-third of all trips to the emergency dentist in North Sydney is the result of a sports injury. Sports, including rugby, aussie rules, cricket and soccer, all involve enough speed and force to cause a wide range of injuries to the face and mouth. Luckily, the humble mouthguard acts as a saving grace for many sportsmen and aspiring sportsmen alike. Properly fitted and worn, a mouthguard provides protection not only to your teeth, but to your mouth, jaw, tongue, and cheeks.

Mouthguards offer impact protection from an elbow, fist, or knee, but also from the ‘snapping’ action of a jaw closing under force. This whiplash action is often enough to cause dental injuries, such as chipped teeth or cracked veneers. There is also some evidence that they can also prevent concussions, by cushioning impacts on the point of the chin.

But to reap these benefits, it is vital that your mouthguard is fitted properly. Ill-fitting mouthguards tend to get jarred loose during impacts, and can interfere with speech and breathing. This can cause the user to become reticent to use them at all. Most can be moulded to your teeth by heating them in boiling water, or by getting your dentist to mould one for you.

In the interest of preserving your teeth, they are a wise investment. As your emergency dentist in North Sydney, we are there to help if you have a dental emergency.

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Unique Invisalign Braces for North Sydney

Many young Australians will require their teeth to be corrected over the course of their adolescence. The growth of their face and jaw, along with that of their wisdom teeth, can distort their teeth, and result in them coming in crookedly. Crowding, underbites and overbites can look poorly at the best of times, and can be dysfunctional to eating or breathing at the worst.

At KB Village Dental, we ensure that our clients are made aware of the best rearing practices you can follow, and habits you can instil in your young ones, to help their teeth develop as well as possible. But there is nevertheless a strong likelihood that they will require braces, and this reality may arrive at a tough time in the life of a teen or preteen. Wire braces, while effective, are noticeable, and can cause a young person some embarrassment.

Luckily, there is now another way. Invisalign’s invisible braces offer North Sydney a method of straightening teeth in a fashion that is far more subtle that with wire braces. It features a clear brace, which fits over your teeth, straightening them without standing out strongly.

Invisalign has been put to use for several years among North Sydney’s youths, and its benefits are numerous. A young person will retain their confidence in front of classmates and workmates, a key attribute in this formative time. They will not be scared of public speaking by virtue of their brace, and they can continue to develop into a confident, strong young person. Invisalign braces are also removable, encouraging good dental hygiene.

Invisalign offers a new method of providing both the young and the not-so-young with a confident smile, that won’t discourage a smile throughout the process. If this sounds like the right move for yourself or your children, KB Village Dental will be happy to tell you more about it.

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Smile Makeover And Ways To Complement It

Infograph on Smile Makeover and Ways to Compliment it.

Text Transcript of the Infographic

What exactly is Smile Makeover?

Based on an individual’s unique needs and wishes, dentists come up with a course of treatment that comprises of a number of cosmetic dental procedures, to give their patients the smile that they always wanted to have.

Most commonly performed procedures

  1. Crowns
  2. Veneers
  3. Composite Filling
  4. Invisalign/Braces
  5. Teeth Whitening
  6. Dermal Fillers

With proper care and maintenance, porcelain restorations, composite fillings and tooth-coloured crowns set during your smile makeover procedure can last for as long as 10-15 years. All you have to do is maintain good oral health and follow your dentist’s instructions.

Smile Makeover aftercare

Proper brushing

You must follow your dentist’s instructions when it comes to your brushing routing and avoid using harsh toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Regular flossing

Regular flossing is important to get rid of the plaque and debris stuck between your teeth, especially when you have Porcelain Veneers.

Mouthwash rinsing

Avoid using a mouthwash that has a large amount of alcohol as they are known to degrade composite fillings and veneers.

Healthy eating

Maintain healthy eating habits and cut down on caffeinated beverages such as tea, coffee, soda, etc. to avoid teeth stains.

Timely checkups

It is important that you continue visiting your dentist for timely dental checks, as the restorations too require regular care and attention.

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Why is a Smile Makeover Right For You?

Infograph on Why a Smile Makeover is Right for You

 

Text Transcript of the Infographic:

Who doesn’t dream of having a smile that displays perfectly aligned, healthy, sparkling white teeth? Cosmetic dentistry now makes it possible for you to attain exactly that through a Smile Makeover.

How does a Smile Makeover help?

  • It generally comprises of a set of cosmetic dentistry procedures that are performed to transform a smile and make it look more aesthetically appealing.
  • Dentists first do a complete assessment of a patient’s oral health and then recommend a combination of cosmetic dental procedures to alter the smile.
  • The customised treatment plan offered by dentists, based on every patient’s unique needs and requirements, can fulfill your dream of having a gorgeous, ‘Movie Star Smile’.

Procedures generally included in a Makeover

  1. Tooth Colored Crowns
  2. Porcelain Veneers
  3. Composite Filling
  4. Invisalign
  5. Dental Implants/Bridges/Dentures
  6. Teeth Whitening
  7. Dermal Fillers

The many benefits of a Complete Smile Makeover

Health Benefits

  • There is a reduced risk of wearing down your teeth
  • It enables cleaning, caring and management of teeth
  • The chances of tooth decay or infection decrease considerably

Aesthetic Benefits

  • Look and feel better with a new and improved smile
  • Smile openly without any hesitation, with improved confidence and self-esteem
  • Enjoy the feeling of restored youthfulness with a well-rounded appearance
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The Root Canal Procedure from your North Sydney Dentist at KB Village

Root canals, in North Sydney and throughout Australia, have somewhat of a fearsome reputation. They are regarded as painful, invasive, and involving a lengthy recovery period. In the days of old, this may have been true, but medical technology moves at a good clip.

The surgery, in essence, is used to save an infected tooth. Once a cavity has allowed ingress for bacteria, the pulp within the tooth can become inflamed. This can cause pain, lead to infected abscesses below your tooth, and can lead to accompanying health problems – particularly among those already suffering from issues with their helath. The inflamed or infected pulp must be removed.

A root canal removes the infected pulp and root of the tooth with an artificial implant. Once the area is numbed, your North Sydney dentist drills down through the tooth, carefully removing the infected organic material. This is then replaced with a rubberish replacement, called gutta-percha, to fill the void.

It is important to note, then, that a root canal from your North Shore dentist doesn’t cause pain. It relieves it, and modern dentistry ensures that you are not subject to discomfort during the process. Numbing and freezing methods are able to make this dental surgery pain-free, and have shortened the recovery period considerably.

Rather than considering removing an infected or abscessed tooth, a root canal can see it maintain its place in line. For more information, contact your North Sydney dentist at KB Village Dental, today.

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Teeth Implants for North Sydney

While teeth implants are among the most common of dental surgeries across North Sydney and the country at large, they aren’t new. In fact, the replacement of missing teeth has been occurring almost since the inception of dentistry, in one form or another.

Recently, a mummified body was unearthed in Northern Italy, of a gentile woman, dated back to nearly 13 000 years ago. In spite of her antiquity, her teeth still retained a bitumen implant. Similar finds have occurred on all the continents, with such varying replacements as stones, bones, animal teeth, and ivory discovered as replacements for lost teeth.

One of the reasons for the long-standing nature of the process is the breakdown of jawbone once a tooth has departed. Your teeth rest on your upper and lower jaws, and missing teeth leave a socket in the bone. When the tooth departs, the bone has nothing knit to, and it slowly degrades. This, over time, can lead to health problems, as well as altering the shape and look of your jawline.

Modern teeth implants in North Sydney incorporate a titanium screw, which is inserted into the jawbone. This substance is biologically benign, so the bone actually knits around the screw, securing it and shoring up the bone, as well. After six months, the screw is ready to bear the weight of the tooth, and your new tooth is installed, matched to the colour and look of the rest of your teeth.

This technology has advanced a long way since it’s earliest days, but it has lost none of its relevance. If there is a gap in your smile, KB Village Dental can help you.

Tooth coloured fillings
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Fact: Lower front teeth do not crowd because of your wisdom teeth!

One of the most common cosmetic concerns for adults as they move beyond their twenties is the crowding that they experience in their lower front teeth.

What I hear most with this common presentation is “my wisdom teeth are causing my teeth to crowd”. This is easy to believe, as in a lot of cases lower wisdom teeth are impacted in such an angle that the wisdom tooth looks as if it is heading towards the molar tooth in front and that you would expect it results in pushing on the teeth in front. However, this is just a fallacy. There are studies out there which proves that it is not the case. This is further proven by the fact that people who have had wisdom teeth removed early on before they experienced any dental crowding, or people who were born without wisdom teeth still experience this lower front teeth dental crowding in their late twenties!

Normally this crowding does not bother people until later in life when they start to lose the elastin in their skin and their bottom lip starts to drop with age, displaying less of their upper teeth and more of their lower teeth.

Having this corrected doesn’t always mean having the traditional “traintracks” put on to straighten the teeth. Invisalign is the clear/invisible and comfortable alternative which adults love, and can result in a straighter more pleasing smile.