Now that we are going to reactivate our beloved whitening campaign (which this year will be from the 15th of May to the 15th of July and of which I am sure we will soon give you more details through the web and the networks), it has occurred to me that we can approach from a more scientific and extensive point of view something that I answer quite often to patients in the cabinet as a dentist in Murcia.
In some cases, many patients who have decided to undergo the tooth whitening to improve the aesthetics of their smile, as colour is a very important part of what we perceive as a beautiful and healthy smile and whitening is a safe and effective 100% treatment, they question and ask if clinical whitening would not be enough.
Actually, I understand. It's better to lie on the couch in the cabinet for the necessary three cycles, which in the end is just over an hour, than to apply the product at home with the necessary splints for weeks at a time. It is a question of practicality, time and, why not admit it, laziness. It is normal for us to be a bit lazy about the process, which is why patients ask questions:
But the really effective one is the one here, the one in the clinic, right?
Not really. Which is not to say that outpatient whitening is effective, either, and that we should stop using in-clinic whitening. Actually, that's why, whether it's a one-off tooth whitening or part of a longer and more complex treatment, such as perhaps ceramic veneers, we usually send the patient for a combined tooth whitening, because it's the combination of the two that produces the desired effect.
And patients come back to ask and insist, and I really understand, but I would like to give the appointment for veneers earlier, which is the big highlight of the treatment, but things have their process, which is as follows:
The in-clinic tooth whitening is the one that has a 'punch' of aesthetic effect for the patient, because the tooth looks much whiter in just one visit. However, this effect is produced, in part, because the tooth is dehydrated and its pore is very open, but in a natural way it will close, it will rehydrate and the white will lose intensity, which will cause the patient to notice them less...'shiny', to put it in a way that you can understand. The scientific explanation is a bit more complex, but I'm sure you can understand it.
This is why it is necessary to turn to the outpatient tooth whiteningThis is the window of opportunity offered by the open pore, which allows the carbamide peroxide that we apply in a lower intensity and proportion but for many more hours, to take effect and cause the white to stabilise in the medium term.
On the other hand, if we only use the one at the clinic, once the tooth is hydrated again and its pores close, we may feel that the effect of the whitening is not what we want and that we have to repeat it every so often, when in fact, if we had followed the process correctly, we would have achieved a much more lasting colour. On the other hand, if we only apply the one at home, we may not achieve the effect we are hoping for because we have not prepared the tooth beforehand.
Another thing is the so-called 'reminder'. That is to say, a patient who had a whitening one or two years ago and wants to whiten his teeth again, but as they are already much whiter than the first time they had it done, applying just a few syringes at home will be enough to achieve the desired colour again. That is why we always insist that you do not throw away the splints.
So the answer to the question that gives the blog its title is: both.