The effect of time. The yellowing of the teeth is due to food (especially tea, coffee, red wine, sodas or red fruits) and cigarettes:the dental plaque is colored as it goes. The simple fact of brushing your teeth after each meal (yes, yes) limits staining, but it is not enough:over time, the enamel of the teeth becomes thinner, which reveals the dentin (the layer lower tooth), naturally yellow. At this point, there is only one solution left:bleaching.
The technique that works. Two possibilities:whitening can be done on an outpatient basis, that is to say with gutters to wear at night (for at least two weeks), or “in the chair” (it takes 2 and a half hours at the dentist). In both cases, only on natural teeth and after scaling. For a pretty result that remains natural, the lightening should not be too extreme:the white of the teeth should not be lighter than that of the eye (so as not to attract more attention than the gaze). What about home kits? For safety reasons, the products are much less dosed than in the office, therefore necessarily less effective. The results, when there are any, are incomparable with whitening performed in the dental office.
Dress and price. Whatever the method used, the result does not exceed five years, but can also last only a few months. It is according to the hygiene of life:if you smoke and drink a lot of coffee, the teeth will yellow more quickly. It is necessary to count between 600 and 1,000 €.
Thanks to Dr Jean-Marc Bittoun, dental surgeon, and Julien Carré, aesthetic doctor (ML Esthetics).
