Can You Whiten Teeth with Braces?

Concept image for can you whiten teeth with braces article

As frustrating as it may be, in-office whitening is not recommended for people who currently have traditional braces with fixed brackets. The brackets are bonded to your teeth, making it impossible for your dentist in Arcadia to uniformly apply their whitening solution. Attempting to do a whitening treatment with fixed braces would likely result in visibly marked teeth when your braces are finally removed.

Can You Whiten Teeth with Braces?

Being able to see where your brackets were is far from ideal. So it’s best to schedule your in-office whitening for a time after your braces are removed. If you’re lucky, you may be able to schedule your teeth whitening in Arcadia for the very same day. In other good news, some types of braces will allow you to have your teeth whitened whenever you like.

Other Kinds of Braces

When you think of braces, you’re probably thinking of a mouth full of metal. While traditional braces are still commonly used, they’re far from being the only option available to you. Today, two other types of braces are commonly used. Both of these options will allow you to have a professional whitening treatment whenever you wish.

Lingual Braces

Lingual braces are very similar to traditional braces with one major difference. With lingual braces, the brackets are fixed to the back of your teeth.

This option offers the speed and control of traditional braces without the outward appearance of them. The only real downside is increased cost and increased discomfort. However, if you’re willing to push through the initial irritation, lingual braces can be a great option.

Thanks to the fact that lingual braces are fixed to the back of your teeth, there’s absolutely no reason that you can’t have a full in-office whitening treatment.

Invisalign

You may be more familiar with Invisalign and other similar products. These braces are a category all their own. They consist of a series of removable trays that fit over your teeth. Each set of trays shifts your teeth slightly with the goal of eventually giving you the perfect smile.

The only downside of Invisalign is that you can take them out. And you might do that more than you should. For the trays to work properly, you have to wear your Invisalign for 22-23 hours out of every day. Taking a break here and there to rest your jaw could ultimately set you back weeks or even months.

On the upside, they are fully removable. You can enjoy all of your favorite foods without worrying about them getting caught or breaking a bracket. It also means that you can have in-office teeth whitening whenever you like. Just make sure you put your trays back once your dentist gives the all clear.

Choosing Professional Teeth Whitening

There are countless products on the market that claim to help you whiten your teeth at home. Unfortunately, none of them are capable of matching up to the instant, quality results you can expect with your local cosmetic dentist.

There are two reasons for this discrepancy.

Your dentist has the expertise to safely use products that are 10x stronger than those sold in stores.
Your dentist can apply their teeth whitening solution with purpose to make sure you get even, beautiful results every time.

Essentially, it is very possible you could end up spending more on drug store products that barely work. And you still might not have decent results. Do you want to learn more about in-office teeth whitening? What about the benefits of enlisting the help of a professional? Then talk to your dentist in Arcadia today.