Many of you dream not only of perfectly aligned, but also white teeth. During the visits, you often ask when to whiten your teeth? Before treatment, after treatment or maybe during the orthodontic treatment?

When the teeth are not aligned properly in the arch, their color seems to be darker than it really is. When aligned, the teeth look much better. Often, after removing the braces, patients who planned to whiten their teeth give it up – they like their own teeth color.

Whitening paste while wearing orthodontic appliance

I do not recommend using whitening paste when wearing a fixed orthodontic appliance. Most of these pastes contain abrasive agents. After removing the brackets, there may be a difference in color and texture between the enamel that was under the bracket and the one that was uncovered. When wearing a fixed appliance, it is better to use a paste that will protect the enamel from descaling, i.e. one that contains a lot of fluoride and has no abrasive properties (preferably with a minimum fluoride content of 1450 ppm F-).

Sometimes patients report a desire to whiten their teeth while wearing the braces. They notice that their teeth have a slightly brown color. It often turns out that the sandblasting procedure is sufficient, during which discoloration resulting from the consumption of coffee and tea is removed. After such a procedure, the teeth immediately look brighter 🙂

Whitening before orthodontic treatment

This is not the best idea! One of the side effects of whitening may be dentine’s hypersensitivity, which is manifested by a pain reaction to cold, sour taste and sweet taste, or even to touch when brushing your teeth. As I have already mentioned many times, during orthodontic treatment you need to brush your teeth several times a day, because a lot of food residues attach to the brackets. It is better not to condemn yourself to suffering during all orthodontic treatment 🙂

Whitening after orthodontic treatment

How soon after orthodontic treatment can the teeth whitening be performed?

It is best to wait at least 1 month for the teeth to recover after removing the braces.

Which whitening method should you choose?

I choose home whitening for my patients. After the orthodontic treatment, we wait a month. Then I take an impression based on which the technician makes an overlay – i.e. a transparent splint in which the patient applies the whitening gel by himself. The advantage of making such a splint after treatment is the fact that with good retention after treatment, the teeth will remain in place, and thus – the splint will serve for a long time (to maintain the effect, whitening should be repeated every few years).

What about fillings?

If your teeth have visible fillings that were placed before orthodontic treatment – wait with their replacement for whitening. Only after the whitening has been finished and the enamel color has stabilized is it possible to choose the right color for new fillings. During whitening, the tooth enamel brightens, but the fillings (seals) do not change their color – that is, their color will be different from the color of the bleached enamel.