To Light Or Not To Light?
“To Light or Not To Light?”
The most controversial question nowadays in regards to Tooth Whitening Treatment. Well, the real answer is based on your professional judgment as a dentist. However, arriving on that decision can be helped by simple logical, scientific and professional discussion. So, let’s tackle the question one by one by simple questions or answers…
First, Why whiten the teeth? Seems like a stupid question but believe it or not it is the most basic and more so, the most significant one. Isn’t it that we whiten because we are providing the service for the patient to achieve his/her desire at the level of his/her expectation/s? If this is so, a quality whitening material along with the competence of the dentist application can do that job whether we use light or not, isn’t that so?
Second, Why do teeth really whiten? Isn’t it because of the active material, hydrogen peroxide, through process of oxidation?
Therefore, if its hydrogen peroxide is the culprit why our teeth whiten, then, why do we need the light then? If it is just to activate the material as some says, why do we have to invest in very expensive lights then just to do this? If it does affect the result, how come we can still whiten teeth of the same great result without it?
There are indeed a lot of studies that can make one decide as a professional, but, the bottom line is even without all those studies, the most logical reasoning can be derived from the most basic question.
Again, the decision is in the hands of the dentist and the patient’s preference/s. However, there’s indeed a choice. A choice wherein it will allow you to do whitening without investing big bucks for it. A choice of achieving the result you and your patient’s expectation/s without greater level of tooth sensitivity due to high dehydration. A choice of not endangering the pulpal vitality of the tooth because of the danger of us, dentists, maybe exposing the teeth at increasing level of temperature that can cause pulpal necrosis. A choice of providing the treatment based on what is really true.
So, what do you think? “To light or not to light?”
You decide…
