A whiter smile is most likely important to every patient who enters your practice. With very few exceptions (namely the individuals who have invested in professional veneers or whose teeth are made of man-made materials), every patient who enters your practice should be interested in at least some type of treatment to get whiter teeth.
How do teeth get dingy?
There are a lot of ways that most everyone’s teeth become dull and dingy over the years. Everyone who begins their day with coffee is causing their teeth to become stained. Another culprit is smoking, as cigarette smoke contains a high amount of tar that clings to your teeth and lungs. Fast food is another cause of dull, dingy teeth. Also, teeth become more dull through the natural process of aging, which means that virtually everyone will be a candidate for teeth whitening as some point in their lives.
Which method is best?
It can be confusing to know which is the best treatment for bleaching teeth, but fortunately, most every current method for teeth whitening is at least generally effective and safe. The most appealing methods in this booming $300M industry are do-it-yourself custom fit whitening trays, combined with professional strength whitening gel.
Offering whitening gel through your practice can bring you a continuing source of easy profits. A single 5ML syringe of 22% carbamide peroxide gel retails for $20 and can provide a full 7-10 days of whitening treatment. Combined with professionally made whitening trays, the high-strength gel can be used sparingly-patients should apply only enough gel to the tray to cover the front surface of the tooth. Usually only the front 6-8 teeth need whitening.
Home whitening kits often produce clunky and cumbersome trays. A small investment in a set of custom fit trays can make all the difference in comfortable use and will make it much easier to maintain a regular practice of bleaching 2-3 times a week.
Smile Simple is offering an easy solution of dentist-quality whitening trays that you can easily offer through any medical practice. By simply making Smile Simple kits available to your current clients, you can provide an additional source of satisfaction to your patients, and with no additional equipment, staffing or training can add multiple thousands of dollars in additional profit to you bottom line.
Is it for everybody?
With very few exceptions, yes! Strips, whitening trays and whitening toothpastes can all be effective for brightening the appearance of the smile.
For patients who are concerned about sensitive teeth, a couple issues are key: Strong whitening products should be used for the shortest time possible to reduce any pain from sensitivity.
Interestingly, more than 50% of the whitening impact occurs within the first 15 minutes of bleaching. An individual with sensitive teeth can make a dramatic impact on the whiteness of teeth by whitening just 15 minutes a day for an initial period of 7-10 days; and can bleach just once a week or every other week to maintain the improvement.
A good set of bleaching trays can help to ensure that the gel is touching only the front surface of the teeth-not the gums. At professional strength, it takes surprisingly little gel to achieve a fabulous result.