Coffee, red wine, and simple aging all leave their mark on tooth color eventually, and most people notice it long before they do anything about it. Drugstore strips and whitening toothpaste tend to promise more than they deliver.
Cedar Smiles Dental provides professional teeth whitening for patients from Bridgewater and throughout Somerset County at our Somerset, NJ office. Dr. Kelvin Wong and our team keep a close eye on your enamel and gum health throughout treatment.
Research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences confirms that peroxide-based whitening is generally safe and effective when properly administered, though temporary sensitivity affects a meaningful share of patients afterward, roughly 43 to 80 percent in some studies. Store-bought products rely on lower concentrations to stay safe for unsupervised use, which is part of why the results tend to be slow, uneven, or underwhelming.
In-Office Treatment: If you want results fast, in-office whitening gets you there in a single visit under careful supervision, and most patients leave noticeably brighter than when they walked in.
Take-Home Trays: For a slower, more controlled approach, we provide custom trays built from digital scans of your teeth, paired with professional-grade gel. Most patients wear them daily for one to two weeks.
Whitening only works on natural enamel, which means existing crowns, bonding, or veneers will not lighten the way the rest of your teeth will. Staining that originates inside the tooth also tends to resist whitening altogether, and in those cases a different approach is usually a better fit.
In-office whitening typically takes about one appointment to see noticeably brighter results. Take-home trays usually take one to two weeks of daily use to reach a similar shade.
Yes, when supervised by a dentist. We check your enamel and gum health beforehand and adjust concentration and timing to your specific mouth, which is safer than an unsupervised over-the-counter kit.
No, whitening only affects natural enamel. Existing crowns, veneers, or bonding will stay the same shade, which is worth discussing at your consultation if you have visible restorations.
Most patients see their results hold up for six months to a year before a touch-up starts to make sense, depending on diet and habits like coffee, tea, or wine consumption.
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