This edition of Whitening MythBusters hits on some very important issues that seem to come up over and over when it comes to teeth whitening. Some of these include: Will whitening damage my teeth? Exactly how white can I get my teeth? How long will the whitening last? Will it hurt? What about post-whitening sensitivity? Is the chemical used in teeth whitening toxic? We’re here to help! Let’s get right to it.

“Walking bleach,” or endodontic whitening, provides a whitening solution for the many patients with one or more non-vital teeth. Non-vital teeth often appear darker than the rest of a patient’s smile due to internal bleeding caused by trauma, the presence of necrotic debris, or pigmentation as a result of previously used endodontic treatment materials. Thus, unlike most whitening cases where discoloration is caused by external staining to vital teeth (usually due to smoking, eating, and/or drinking habits,) as the pre-fix “endo” suggests, endodontic whitening, or walking bleach, is used when discoloration comes from the inside out.

In the early years of my career, the advent of braided retraction cords were a big improvement over the twisted cords of the past, although despite the improvement, I often found that these “new and improved” cords could still be too rigid. This, due to the fact that 99% of the component of the fiber in braided cords runs close to parallel to the long access of the cord—making it so that pushing down on one end of the cord caused the length of the cord behind that area to rise.

“You know, I wasn’t very concerned about my teeth. I knew I had spots on my teeth, but it never bothered me until I started teaching preschool and some of the kids would say, ‘Hey! You didn’t brush your teeth today!” says Michelle Webb. “I had asked a dentist about getting rid of the spots before, and he mentioned porcelain veneers, but I wasn’t interested in having something glued to my teeth,” she continues, regarding the invasive and often expensive procedure. “I didn’t know there was anything I could do to remove the spots from my teeth, so when I found out about this Opalustre treatment, it was really enticing to me,” Webb recalls with a smile. Opalustre, a chemical and mechanical abrasion slurry, removes the white, brown, and/or multi-colored defects or decalcifications that occur on many people’s teeth. This is often caused by fluorosis—the mottling of tooth enamel caused by exposure to excessive fluoride during childhood. Often times, the white spots caused by fluorosis darken and become more noticeable over time.

Walking the halls of Ultradent, or even visiting our offices abroad, it’s not rare to encounter people who are celebrating their fifth, tenth, twentieth, thirtieth (and beyond) anniversaries with the company. Ultradent inspires incredible loyalty with those who join the team, and Pamela Huelsmann is no exception. Having been with Ultradent for ten-and-a-half years now, Pamela works as a sales assistant covering Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium.