Teeth whitening with cold light - the path to a Hollywood smile

A beautiful smile can be called the calling card of modern people. You can make your teeth snow-white using special cold lamps. Professional light whitening provides the best results.

Interesting! Teeth whitening (not cold, of course) was invented in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians ground pumice and wine vinegar. Or they used improvised tools like a file. Yes, the teeth undoubtedly became lighter, but after a while they were affected by caries, because under the influence of acid and abrasive particles of pumice the enamel was quickly and severely destroyed. And the files completely removed the top layer.

Modern photobleaching technologies do not involve the use of improvised means and are based on the use of hydrogen peroxide and a cold beam of light.

The essence of the method

Using cool halogen glow in combination with whitening gel. Does not have a heating effect like UV or LED lamps. That is why there is no pain during the procedure.

The basis of the gel is hydrogen peroxide. The cold light emitted by the LED lamp releases oxygen.
When it gets into the tooth tissue, the pigments split. The result is that the enamel becomes lighter. But the process is not accompanied by heating of the enamel, as when using incandescent lamps. When heated, the structure of the enamel changes - it becomes porous, loose and fragile. This is all excellent soil for bacteria to settle and multiply.

Features of manipulation

“ Cold whitening ” or “ cold lamp whitening ” of teeth is one of the most modern ways to whiten teeth and lighten enamel. The procedure is carried out using a special lamp using halogen light. Its blue beam does not heat the enamel on which the chemical composition is applied. The beam that is directed from the photo lamp passes through the filter, losing both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. Under the influence of cold light, the top layer of enamel is removed. Oxygen particles released from the gel, entering into a chemical reaction with the coloring pigment, lighten the teeth.

Advantages

Compared to other lightening techniques, cold teeth whitening has the following advantages:

1. You will not feel the effects of the lamp, overheating, or pain.
2. The method is not dangerous for enamel.
3. Session duration – 1 hour.
4. Teeth are brightened by 6–12 shades.
5. Long-lasting effect – teeth will be snow-white for two years without corrective procedures.

The main advantage of cold lightening is the complete absence of any unpleasant sensations. Therefore, if you decide to make your smile perfect and Hollywood beautiful, this technique is what you need.

Efficiency of whitening with LED lamp

Teeth whitening with an LED lamp is a fairly effective method. In one visit to the dental office to whiten your teeth, you can lighten your tooth enamel by 6-10 shades. This is the case if the tooth enamel has turned yellow from exposure to food dyes or from smoking abuse. When tooth enamel has become gray, its lightening becomes possible only by a couple of tones. Minimal success in the procedure can also be observed in those patients whose enamel has changed color under the influence of tetracycline antibiotics, as well as if there is an excess of fluoride in the body.

Question! Is it possible to whiten teeth during pregnancy?

Speaking about the duration of the result, it depends on what natural shade of enamel the patient has, and to what extent the doctor’s further recommendations will be followed.

Preparation for the procedure

Whitening with gel and LED lamp is carried out only in dental clinics. Portable compact devices for home use have not yet been created.

Important! A week before lamp bleaching, it is not recommended to consume foods and drinks that contain natural dyes - coffee, wine, sweet soda, berries, sauces, seasonings, beets, carrots.

Stages:

1. The first step is thorough cleaning of the oral cavity: existing plaque is removed from the teeth. Otherwise, whitening will occur not of the teeth, but of the plaque. At this stage, doctors perform fluoridation using special preparations that create a protective film on the tooth and strengthen the enamel. One of the most common methods of removing plaque is the Air-Flow sandblasting technique.
2. Then the dentist will select the shade of enamel according to the Vita scale, depending on your wishes.
3. The next stage is to isolate the lips and cheeks from the teeth using special wipes and cream.
4. To protect the gums from the effects of the chemically active gel, a liquid cream is used, which hardens after application and forms a protective barrier.

Brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste once a day, as high fluoride content can lead to fluorosis. That is, for example, at night you should brush your teeth with a fluoride-containing paste, and in the morning with a paste containing extracts of medicinal herbs.

How to maintain the effect of the procedure?

How long the result lasts depends on the patient himself, or more precisely on his lifestyle. If he is a heavy smoker, a coffee drinker, and often consumes foods with a high content of dyes (blueberries, oranges, sweets, etc.), he risks soon saying goodbye to the whiteness of his smile.

It is known that the effect of whitening devices stabilizes only after 10-14 days. During this time, dentists recommend following a “white” diet, since the enamel has not had time to recover and the constant influence of harmful factors can spoil the effect of the procedure.

You can maintain and improve results at home. There are different systems to choose from that contain plates or trays. They are applied in a course of 7-10 days.

How it all happens

The procedure is carried out using a lamp and gel:

1. The surface of the teeth becomes dry.
2. Then it is processed with a lamp.
3. If all teeth are whitened, the exposure time is about 30 minutes.
4. The dentist then turns off the lamp, removes the gel, and you evaluate the results.

If for some reason you don’t like the result, the procedure is repeated. During one visit to the dental office, you may undergo up to 3 cold light whitening procedures.

How does cold light whitening differ from other techniques?

From home professional whitening (using tray and gel)

Cold whitening is performed by a doctor in a dental office. The oxygen gel for this procedure has a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide (35 - 37%) compared to home whitening compositions (10 - 12% concentrate), therefore the effect of cold bleaching is much more noticeable. In addition, a home whitening course lasts from several weeks to a month, while teeth whitening with cold light takes 45 to 90 minutes.

From chemical in-office bleaching

Chemical bleaching, unlike cold light bleaching, does not involve a catalyst in the form of ultraviolet light. The result is achieved due to the highest possible concentration of the gel (up to 45% hydrogen peroxide concentrate), as well as a longer waiting period: the gel is applied to the teeth for 25 - 30 minutes, usually in two approaches. In practice, this is not always safe, and may also cause pain. Cold whitening is a gentler option to make your teeth whiter. A less concentrated oxygen gel is used here, and the procedure itself consists of three cycles of 10 - 15 minutes. In this case, the effect of chemical and cold bleaching is usually the same.

From photobleaching with hot light

Cold bleaching, as mentioned above, is also photobleaching, since it involves the use of a gel (reagent) and light (catalyst). But using the cold light of a halogen or diode lamp is a big bonus of this procedure. The advantage is that the low temperature of the light waves allows you to whiten your teeth without damaging tooth enamel or causing pain. Don't worry: during the procedure your teeth will not shrink from the cold. The definition of “cold” is explained by the use of blue light, which does not heat the tooth enamel, in contrast to whitening with hot light from an LED lamp, which is unsafe for teeth and oral mucosa.

From laser whitening

Cold whitening is less effective than laser whitening. The latter takes less time (the session lasts no more than 20 minutes) and at the same time allows you to achieve the highest whitening effect. The fact is that laser radiation has a dense, directed beam flux, while the light from the ultraviolet lamp during cold bleaching is scattered - and the effect of the bleaching gel slows down and weakens. Patients often note that after laser whitening, their teeth remain white longer - from 1.5 to 2.5 years. Of course, a lot depends on the natural shade of tooth enamel, oral hygiene and the frequency of consumption of “forbidden” foods (coffee, black tea, dark berries and others) that stain teeth. But teeth whitening with a cold light lamp also has an important advantage - this procedure will not put a big dent in your wallet. Its cost is about 5,000 - 12,000 rubles (for comparison: the average price of laser whitening in metropolitan clinics starts from 20,000 rubles).

Which method to choose

Doctors offer 3 methods of cold lightening.

Beyond

Recognized leader among cold whitening. In Russia, this technology is only gaining momentum in popularity, but already has its own audience of fans. According to statistics, 78% of people choose it.

The advantages include:

• lightening by 12 shades;
• takes only 30 minutes;
• the efficiency of the method is 30% higher than other technologies;
• teeth remain snow-white for 2 years;
• thanks to the targeted effect, selected areas or individual teeth are lightened;
• special filters minimize the impact of the device on internal tissues, which is especially important in cases where you have increased enamel sensitivity.

This whitening method is ideal for people whose teeth are too dark.

Luma Cool

This is xenon-halogen technology.

Advantages:

• lightening by 10 shades;
• painlessness of the procedure;
• exposure time – 25 min;
• 1 year warranty.

LUMA-COOL is one of the most effective, safe teeth whitening methods.

Amazing White

Advantages:

• procedure time – 45 minutes;
• the shade of enamel brightens by 7 tones;
• no re-bleaching effect;
• the result lasts up to 2 years.

As you can see, any of the cold lightening techniques is safe and painless. Technologies do not harm teeth.

The only disadvantage of this method of whitening is the high cost.

Cold bleaching systems

Today, Moscow dental clinics use several cold light whitening systems.

Beyond

One of the most popular is Beyond, which is based on patented LightBridge technology. It provides uniform light exposure from a halogen lamp without ultraviolet radiation or heat.

Price - from 8,000 rubles.

Luma Cool

Luma Cool whitening, very popular in the USA, but almost unknown in Russia, is also based on the use of cold light. This is the only technology that uses diode lamps instead of halogen lamps.

Price - from 12,000 rubles.

Amazing White

Another American whitening system, Amazing White, uses cold light from an LED lamp with blue, red and violet rays.

Price - from 10,000 rubles.

Contraindications

Unfortunately, like any medicine or treatment method, cold bleaching has limitations:

• enamel defects – cracks, chips;
• the presence of a large number of fillings and crowns;
• pregnant women;
• lactation period;
• age under 18 years;
• allergy to the components included in the whitening gel;
• bruxism;
• pathological abrasion of teeth;
• diabetes, cancer, asthma, AIDS;
• thinned enamel.

Some contraindications are relative. For example, for diseases of the oral cavity - caries, stomatitis, pulpitis, periodontal disease, after the treatment, you can perform the procedure.

Will not cope with hypoplasia and fluorosis

The technology will not be effective against non-carious lesions and stains that affect the aesthetics of the smile: hypoplasia, fluorosis, wedge-shaped defect. Especially if the pathologies are severe.

Are any of the professional whitening methods effective for the listed defects? Researchers claim that some types of hypoplasia, mild fluorosis and even tetracycline teeth are best treated with ZOOM technology. But most often, such patients are still offered to install veneers, lumineers and crowns (if the teeth are severely damaged), which, in addition to adding aesthetics to the smile, help protect the enamel from external influences, destruction and caries.

The technology will not be effective against fluorosis

Possible complications

As you can see, complications can arise due to the unprofessionalism of the dentist. Therefore, before choosing a clinic where you are going to have cold light whitening, you need to study the qualifications of the doctors, read reviews about the clinic, and watch videos.

Lack of desired effect

All people have different enamel thickness and structure. Therefore, it does not always become snow-white. In some cases, you will need to do 2–4 more procedures. But basically, if the doctor is highly qualified, then such problems do not arise. A dentist who has thoroughly studied the technique is able to correctly assess the condition of the tissues and calculate the time of exposure to the gel and the light beam.

Enamel hypersensitivity

After the procedure, 2% of people experience increased tooth sensitivity to hot and cold drinks and foods. But that's completely normal. After 3-4 days, this inconvenience will disappear. If sensitivity persists for more than 4 days, you should contact your dentist.

Soft tissue burns

This complication occurs extremely rarely and only due to the lack of professionalism of the doctor. A qualified specialist will apply the correct protective cream to the gums to prevent soft tissue burns. But if it does occur, drug treatment will be needed.

Insufficient sanitation and preparation of the oral cavity

If your doctor recommends whitening and you know that you have caries, it is better to go to another clinic.
Before whitening, be sure to check your mouth. For example, if you do cold bleaching for caries, the gel will penetrate deep into the tissue through the carious cavities and cause burns and inflammation. A prerequisite is that after the procedure you do not consume food with dyes. This will maximize the lightening effect.

Doctor Zubastic recommends

By following simple rules, you can save the result for a long time:

1. After the cold beam whitening procedure, you cannot lighten your teeth at home with hydrogen peroxide, salt, soda, or other folk remedies. This leads to damage to the enamel.
2. If you cannot stop drinking coffee, red wine and foods containing dyes, brush your teeth after every meal. No opportunity? Use special mouth rinses, sprays, and irrigators. This will help prevent the formation of plaque and stone, which are precursors to darkening of the enamel. This also applies to those people who smoke. Under the influence of nicotine, even lightened enamel will turn yellow.
3. Be sure to cleanse your mouth twice a day – morning and evening.
4. Visit the dentist once every six months.
5. Don't use toothpicks. An alternative to them is dental floss.
6. Eat less foods containing sugar. They contribute to the proliferation of bacterial infections in the oral cavity.
7. Include green apples and dairy products - cottage cheese, milk, cheese - in your diet. They are rich in calcium, which will help strengthen dental tissue.

Only careful oral care, diet and your efforts will help you maintain a Hollywood smile for a long time.

Tags: Amazing White, Beyond, LED lamp, Luma Cool, lamp whitening, whitening, photo whitening

About the author: Dr. Zubastik

Typically, a toothache begins to subside on the way to the clinic and finally goes away after 10 minutes of sitting in line to see the dentist.

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Recommendations after the teeth whitening procedure

To maintain the results for a longer period of time, you must strictly follow the doctor’s recommendations:

1. To give up smoking;
2. Limit consumption of tea, coffee and other coloring drinks;
3. Avoid foods containing strong dyes, such as sauces, curry spices and turmeric;
4. Regular professional hygiene and follow-up examinations with the attending physician.

Teeth whitening is a procedure whose results will be visible immediately. A snow-white smile brings self-confidence, which has an impact on all areas of life. Healthy and beautiful teeth are fashionable!

© Yatmanova Yana Eduardovna