Pasadena Teeth Whitening

Dr. Azarbal offers patients two options for teeth whitening: custom take-home trays with a bleaching gel, or the in-office gel and laser whitening treatment known as Zoom Whitening.

Take-home treatments

The most affordable option, this treatment involves using a take-home bleaching gel with a set of trays that are custom-designed to fit your teeth. You can wear the trays at night or during the day and your teeth will gradually become whiter over the next few days and weeks. Once you have your teeth as white as you would like them, you stop wearing the trays. You keep the trays and gel and use for periodic touch-ups.

Before take-home treatment.

The same patient's teeth after.

In-office treatment

The proprietary Zoom Whitening system from Discus Dental offers faster results without the need for take-home trays and gel. It is more expensive, but only takes one visit, and can usually be performed in less than an hour. With this system, Dr. Azarbal uses a special bleaching gel plus application of laser light to quickly activate the teeth whitening properties of the peroxide gel. You can learn more about Zoom Whitening by clicking on the link to our page dedicated to the procedure.

What about over-the-counter options?

The bleaching gels used by cosmetic dentists like Dr. Azarbal are much stronger than the gel systems you can buy over-the-counter. If used very consistently over a long period of time, the over-the-counter products can whiten your teeth. However, you are more likely to spend more money on these products yet get poorer results because they aren't as powerful or efficient.

Whitening toothpastes can remove surface stains, but they will not have the same effect as peroxide bleaching gels because they only remove suface stains from tooth enamel. Most noticeable stains are ones that have penetrated and stained the dentin (the interior layer of the tooth). To achieve effective teeth whitening, you need a product that will stay on the teeth long enough to penetrate the enamel and reach the dentin.

How long will it last?

How long your teeth remain white depends on several lifestyle factors. If you avoid foods that cause dark teeth stains (coffee, wine, berries) and other practices, like smoking and other tobacco use, your teeth can be kept white for a long period of time. Over time, however, everyone's teeth will get darker and require subsequent touch-ups to regain their appearance.