Many people like to whiten their teeth because it gives them a more youthful appearance: dark, discoloured teeth can be very unappealing. It often makes a tremendous difference to how your mouth looks – many patients feel it makes them look five to ten years younger. It is also essential to consider tooth whitening whenever you are having a new crown, bridge, filling, veneer, denture or inlay. This is because teeth can be whitened but crowns, inlays, etc cannot. If you have new crowns and then later decide you’d like whiter teeth you may need to have the crowns remade (at considerable expense) just to match your new tooth shade.

This depends on the colour they were to begin with and why they have darkened: the degree of colour change varies from person to person. Teeth have natural colour variations – a bit like the natural variations in the shade of people’s skin or hair. If your teeth are naturally darker in colour, they won’t necessarily reach the brightest white shade. There is a limit to just how much you can whiten a tooth. Teeth that are naturally very white but have been stained by smoking, drinking red wine, tea, coffee, etc, are likely to whiten quite easily and to achieve a very bright white. Your dentist can give you a better idea of the likely shade change at your dental examination.

For take-home kits: usually between 7 and 21 days. In-surgery tooth whitening usually takes about an hour and a half – but if your teeth are very dark and you want a lot of colour change, you may need to use a take-home kit after (in addition to) the in-surgery whitening.

It is quite common for people to experience some sensitivity for a few days during or after tooth whitening. This can be reduced by applying toothpaste for sensitive teeth or special desensitising agents.

Tooth whitening with a take-home kit costs £490.00.