Deep Bleaching Guide
Deep Bleaching is not a teeth-whitening brand, but rather a multi-phase protocol involving a reversal of the usual chairside bleaching, followed by home bleaching. This technique has a reputation for whitening even the most intransigent stains (due to tetracycline or fluorosis, for example) and for maintaining optimally whitened teeth over the long haul.
Step 1
During an office visit, the dentist takes highly detailed impressions of the teeth and gumline. Based on those impressions, vinyl trays containing bleaching-gel reservoirs are custom-fabricated. Resembling the aligners used in contemporary orthodontics, these trays provide a unique fit that compresses right up to the gumline. The intention is to keep the bleaching gel sealed inside, thus preventing gum irritation and the mixing of saliva with the gel.
Total chair time: 30 minutes.
Step 2
You return to the dentist’s office for a “conditioning visit.” The aim here is not to whiten the teeth, but rather to make them more permeable to oxygen.
- First, the outer surfaces of the teeth are polished with pumice powder.
- Next, two coatings of a desensitizing-conditioning agent are rubbed onto the teeth.
- Your custom-made bleaching trays are loaded with a nine percent hydrogen peroxide gel and pressed onto the teeth. Since the trays are designed in part to protect the gums, the use of retractors and rubber dams is optional – though recommended for patients with extremely sensitive gums. The trays remain in place for 20 minutes.
- The gel is suctioned out of the trays and off the teeth.
- The trays are reloaded, reinserted for 20 minutes and then removed.
- Two coatings of desensitizer are again rubbed onto the teeth.
Total chair time: Approximately one hour.
Step 3
You are sent home with a kit containing your trays, sufficient carbamide peroxide gel to be used overnight for 14 consecutive nights (when saliva flow is at a minimum and least likely to interfere with the peroxide’s bleaching action) and a tooth desensitizer contained in a squeeze bottle. The goal is both to whiten the teeth and to make them more permeable to oxygen.
Step 4
Now with your teeth more receptive to the oxygenating effect of bleach, you return to the dentist’s office – this time for a standard power bleaching session with retractors and rubber dam. Depending on how deeply the teeth have been bleached using the home trays, your dentist will use a nine percent or a 27 percent hydrogen peroxide solution.
Following chairside bleaching, your teeth will have been bleached to maximum whiteness.
Total chair time: Approximately one hour.
Step 5
To maintain maximum whiteness, you continue using your Deep Bleaching Trays overnight once every one to three months. If you drink red wine on a daily basis, you are advised to use the trays overnight once every two weeks.
Dentists who use the Deep Bleaching regimen say it provides permanent deep-whitening if patients follow maintenance instructions.
Cost: The fee for the two in-office procedures, custom-fabricated trays and 14 days of home bleaching, ranges from $800 to $3,500. On average, the fee is $1,250. The price of maintenance bleaching gel is $5 to $7 for each overnight treatment.
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Tags: bleaching, dentist, hydrogen peroxide, sensitive gums, Teeth, tetracycline, Tooth
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