Teeth Whitening – Harker Heights, TX
Make Your Grin Bright Again
As you get older, your smile will almost inevitably start to darken. Many common factors – meals, age, genetics, etc. – can cause grins to become stained or discolored. With that said, there’s a solution to this issue: teeth whitening in Harker Heights! This procedure can quickly brighten your pearly whites, ensuring they live up to their nickname. Learn more about it by reading below, or book a consultation with us in the coming days!
Why Choose Market Heights Family Dental for Teeth Whitening?
- Dentists with Decades of Experience
- Convenient At-Home Whitening Options
- Friendly & Attentive Dental Team
Who is a Good Candidate for Teeth Whitening?
To be perfectly honest, you only need decent oral health to qualify for teeth whitening. The only wrinkle is that the treatment suits some patients more than others. As such, you should consult our dentists to see if your traits would maximize whitening’s effects.
Truly ideal whitening candidates have extrinsic tooth stains. Those kinds stem from outside factors like meals or bad habits, so treatment can remove them with bleaching gel. In contrast, whitening doesn’t work as well on intrinsic stains – those that develop beneath your tooth enamel.
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
During your initial consultation, our team will perform a close oral exam. This assessment of your smile will help us see whether teeth whitening suits you. Based on our findings, we’ll then suggest possible treatment options for you.
If we approve your care, we’ll proceed with our take-home teeth whitening procedure.
Take-Home Teeth Whitening
Here at Market Heights Family Dental, we offer highly flexible take-home teeth whitening. This method uses custom trays and quality bleaching gel to brighten your grin. By wearing the gel-filled trays over your teeth, you’ll sport a much whiter smile in just two weeks! You simply need to use the trays for a few hours daily during the two-week period; your enamel will then look six to eight shades brighter.
Tips for Maintaining Your Brighter Smile
While the results of teeth whitening aren’t permanent, you can take steps to help them last as long as possible. Just remember to do the following:
- Keep Your Smile Clean – When you brush twice daily and floss once daily, you remove food debris and plaque from your smile. These habits thus prevent stains from building on your teeth.
- Avoid Stain Agents – By avoiding foods and drinks with tannins (i.e., stain agents), you’ll reduce your risk of stained teeth. All you need to do is skip (or limit your intake of) coffee, berries, red wine, tomato sauce, etc.
- Eat Dairy Products – Because dairy-rich products have calcium and don’t use dyes, they can preserve your treatment results.
- Get Follow-Ups – Whenever you notice your treatment results fading, consider getting a follow-up treatment from your local dentist.
Understanding the Cost of Teeth Whitening
Even if you want a bright smile, the cost of teeth whitening could worry you. Fair enough – a treatment only helps when it fits your budget. Still, teeth whitening’s price varies by patient; you’ll need to consult our dentists for an estimate. We can find ways to make your care affordable (and outline some helpful payment options) once you’ve met us. For more details on the cost of teeth whitening in Harker Heights, keep reading or call us soon!
Factors That Affect the Cost of Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening has a set price, but many factors affect how many sessions you need. The most common of these include the following:
- Type of Stain – If your tooth stains come from outside sources, you can likely get by with just one or two whitening sessions. On the other hand, discoloration below the enamel (i.e., intrinsic stains) is harder to fix; it requires further work.
- Severity of Stains – You’ll need more whitening sessions when your grin has dark and severe stains. In such a scenario, your discoloration will take more effort to remove.
- Preliminary Care – Before you get teeth whitening, you may require preliminary procedures (i.e., fillings, crowns, etc.). You'll pay a higher treatment cost if that's the case.
Types of Teeth Whitening: What Do They Cost?
Aside from the factors above, teeth whitening’s type also affects treatment price. You’ll thus want to consider the four kinds available:
- In-Office Teeth Whitening – In-office whitening is the most expensive kind. Often, it has an average price of $400-800 per session and a maximum of $1000 in special cases.
- Take-Home Teeth Whitening – While its exact price can vary, your typical take-home whitening kit costs about a few hundred dollars.
- “Over-the-Counter” Teeth Whitening Trays – Since they take a “one-size-fits-all” approach, store-bought whitening trays cost little. You can often get them for $100 or less.
- Teeth Whitening Strips/Gels – Among the four types, teeth whitening strips and gels cost the least. They have average prices of $20-40 per box.
OTC Teeth Whitening vs. Professional Teeth Whitening
Today’s “pro” teeth whitening is more popular than store-bought kinds, despite its higher price. The reason is simple: the former offers superior results.
Remember, cosmetic dentistry’s price reflects its quality. That store-bought strips and gels have a low price means they don’t work well. In contrast, pro-whitening treatment has a higher price because it provides much more notable effects. You can trust it to brighten your enamel by six, eight, or even ten shades, all without any major complications.
Options for Making Teeth Whitening Affordable
Though dental plans don’t cover teeth whitening, you needn’t panic. Just rely on our practice’s helpful payment options, such as:
- In-House Savings Plan – By paying a moderate monthly fee, you can join our office’s in-house savings plan. It’d provide you with a 15% discount on teeth whitening, among other things.
- CareCredit Financing – We’re proud to work with CareCredit, a reputable 3rd party financier. They’d let you pay for teeth whitening in manageable monthly installments.
To make your bright grin affordable, you don’t need to strain yourself. Just visit our office in the coming days and weeks!
Teeth Whitening FAQs
Does Teeth Whitening Damage Enamel?
When handled by a qualified dentist, teeth whitening in Harker Heights doesn’t harm healthy enamel at all. It brightens your smile without causing any damage to your smile.
The only exceptions to this rule are teeth compromised by decay or gum disease. For such “pearly whites,” the treatment’s bleaching gel could cause issues due to its chemical makeup. A dentist will thus conduct a comprehensive exam before the procedure to ensure you can handle it.
Honestly, it’s store-bought teeth whitening that presents a threat to your grin. At-home remedies for tooth stains can do more than good, especially those like activated charcoal. They’ll often erode your enamel in their efforts to address discoloration.
What’s the Difference Between Professional and Store-Bought Whitening?
While both methods aim to brighten smiles, professional teeth whitening and store-bought alternatives are quite different. The former is far safer and more effective than the latter.
You see, most store-bought whiteners take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. That means they all provide you with poorly-fitted trays, diluted brighteners, and so on. The result is that they don’t usually whiten your smile much, and they lack professional supervision that ensures safety.
Professional whitening differs by taking a very tailored and customized approach. Based on the results of your dental exam, a dentist will adjust the bleaching gel used to suit your smile. They’ll also account for your existing restorations and the current health of your teeth and gums. That way, you’ll get results that greatly brighten your grin without harming it.
Does Teeth Whitening Work on Dental Crowns?
Though teeth whitening is quite effective, it doesn’t work on dental crowns. The treatment can only brighten the surface of a natural tooth; it won’t change the color of a restoration.
Don’t forget that teeth whitening uses bleaching gel. To remove your smile’s stains, this substance passes through the tiny pores in your tooth enamel. Restorations like dental crowns, however, don’t have such pores because they’re porcelain or ceramic. That means the whitening process won’t affect a crown’s color.
To ensure your crown “matches” a whitened smile, you’ll need to take precautions. The best approach is to get (or replace) your restoration after you’ve had teeth whitening.
Is Teeth Whitening Expensive?
All things considered, teeth whitening is extremely cost-effective compared to other cosmetic dental options. You can trust it to brighten your grin without “breaking the bank.”
Consider the base price of take-home teeth whitening, for instance. This service has an average cost of only a few hundred dollars – a lower amount than that for veneers or Invisalign. Since whitening’s effects can last several years, such a cost is well worth it!
Note also that many dentists now offer helpful financing options to reduce treatment costs. Indeed, some let you work with financiers like CareCredit to make teeth whitening even less costly. Seasonal offers will also help patients keep out-of-pocket costs to a minimum.