Sapphire Teeth Whitening
The Sapphire teeth whitening treatment is a simple cosmetic dentistry service for whitening teeth. The procedure is used to remove stains on teeth that are caused by smoking, red wine, coffee, soda and other factors. Sapphire teeth whitening treatments are currently available in hundreds of dentist offices around the country. The treatments are growing in popularity because of the quick results that patients can get from it.
What to Expect
The Sapphire teeth whitening procedure can be carried out either at the dentist’s office or at the patient’s home. Dentists often recommend in-office treatments for removing stubborn surface stains as well as intrinsic stains inside the teeth caused by the intake of certain prescription drugs.
When patients visit a dentist’s office for a Sapphire teeth whitening treatment, the dentist begins by applying a specially formulated gel on each tooth. The gel is compromised of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide and a desensitizing agent. Once the gel is applied over all the teeth that need whitening, it is exposed to a special blue Sapphire Plasma Arc light.
How it Works
The light causes the peroxide in the gel to break down and form microscopic oxygen bubbles that penetrate the outer pores of the teeth to lift up stains. The desensitizing compound in the gel ensures that patients do not experience the discomfort that is typically associated with other teeth whitening procedures. In most cases, the entire Sapphire teeth whitening treatment lasts just about an hour, with a bulk of the time spent on exposing the gel to the blue light.
The results that people get from in-office Sapphire teeth whitening treatments vary widely. In some cases, the procedure is reported to have improved the whiteness of teeth by up to 8 times in less than an hour. In other cases, the improvements are less dramatic, or could take much longer to achieve.
Professional Home Kits
In addition to office treatments, Sapphire treatments can also be done at home using professional take-home kits. Unlike the gel used in dental offices, the gel in the professional take-home kit is comprised largely of carbamide peroxide, which is weaker than hydrogen peroxide. The take-home kit comes equipped with gel trays for the upper and lower teeth. The gel trays are pliable and can be molded to stay in place over particular teeth while the tooth whitening is in progress. Unlike dental office whitening treatment, Sapphire’s home-treatment kits do not come equipped with plasma arc lights, so the whitening might require a longer period of time.
Sapphire teeth whitening treatments have proved successful and may be a good alternative to porcelain veneers for discolored teeth, but the kind of results that people get depends largely on the overall initial condition of teeth and just how discolored they were to begin with.