What everyone should know about teeth whitening after braces?
Orthodontic patients undergo various hardships to streamline their crooked teeth and beautify their smiles. Despite the braces treatments enhance your smile aesthetics, your teeth are not bright when the treatment ends. Don’t think that wearing braces will discolor your pearly white teeth. The teeth would get stains around the regions where the brackets and wires had been. Luckily, you have various dental bleaching solutions to get rid of those discolorations.
Here our cosmetic dentists have explained the widely recommended teeth whitening treatments to receive following the braces removal.
What are the possible ways to remove braces stains on my teeth?
In general, the teeth whitening solutions to extricate brace stains involve in-office dental treatments and at-home whitening products.
- Professional Dental treatments – It is the easiest dental treatment in which the dentist applies a whitening gel over the enamel and focuses ultraviolet light. The bleaching agent combines with the light and renovates the teeth’ natural white color.
- At-Home Whitening Products– Your dentist will provide a tooth whitening kit that contains toothpaste, whitening strips, and other accessories to whiten the teeth. Despite those products are available at medical stores, the kit you received at a dental office does not have any adverse effects.
- Microabrasion – It is recommended if the stains are quite adamant and cannot be removed with whitening treatments. This process involves removing a small amount of the teeth’s enamel with which the stains also get eliminated.
For optimal cosmetic enhancement, you should take professional-grade solutions performed under the supervision of dental doctors or oral hygienists. Meanwhile, the over-the-counter whitening products and at-home products supplied by a dentist will take more time.
Can I get teeth whitening treatments immediately after removing braces?
No. You should wait at least 6 months to whiten your teeth after removing orthodontic braces. Orthodontists recommend this due to the following 2 reasons:
- Teeth Sensitivity – Wearing the metallic braces for a long period is linked to thinning of enamel in areas where the brackets had been. This is the reason why orthodontic patients encounter teeth sensitivity for a short period after the treatment ends. Hence the teeth enamel require time to restore the nutrients components.
- Saliva – Saliva is a natural cleaning solution that can remove the stains deposit over the teeth. If your braces stains are extrinsic (discolorations in a tooth’s outermost layer), then they will be cleansed with saliva. In contrast, the stains progressed to the layers beneath the enamel mandate teeth cleaning solutions.
Is there any alternate solution to remove braces stains?
Here are the widely used cosmetic solutions to brighten your smile post orthodontic treatments:
- Composite resins
- Veneers
- Remineralization
Your dentist will suggest a suitable teeth whitening or cosmetic appliance after analyzing the degree of staining with braces.
Bottom line
As the fixed brackets and wires in a metallic brace affect the way you brush and floss, teeth discoloration is inevitable during orthodontic treatment. Wearing remove braces such as Invisalign is the best way to prevent such discoloration it takes more time to straighten your teeth.
On the other hand, adjusting your diet as per your orthodontist prescribed will prevent the braces stains to a great extent. If you are eager to know which foods are friendly for teeth and brace, contact our orthodontists in Sri Lanka here.
