Post Op Instructions:
Congratulations! You have completed the first phase of your treatment toward a beautiful new smile. A few things to remember:
Although your temporaries are designed to be a model for your definitive restorations, they will not feel like your final restorations, which will be smoother and more lifelike in appearance. Your teeth may be sensitive to temperature and chewing with your temporaries, but this will subside after your final restorations are placed. Some patients experience a sensation of contraction and tightness with cold/hot food or beverages. Avoid eating hard foods or anything very chewy.
You will have some discomfort after your preparation appointment. Each patient will vary with the sensitivity they experience. We have found that this initial discomfort is easily relieved in most cases by taking 600mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours as needed-not to exceed 3200mg in a 24 hour period. If your sensitivity cannot be managed with Ibuprofen, please call us.
It's extremely important to keep your gums as healthy as possible between your preparation and cementation appointment. The following regiment is essential:
You will also be given hydrogen peroxide syringes (which are refillable) and should be used at the gum line of your provisionals 3 to 4 times daily until your next appointment. Switch to the blue solution (marked in black) about one week before your next appointment to bond in your new veneers.
If you had laser gum therapy performed, use the rubber tip stimulator very gently under the gums 2 to 3 times per day for the first week.
Bridge threaders are provided to use between your provisionals. Floss twice a day until your next appointment.
If your bite feels “high” after the anesthetic wears off, please call for an adjustment. With time, a high temporary will bruise the ligament around the tooth and may cause it to become sensitive.
Teeth whitening is our most popular request. It's easy, conservative, and inexpensive. So if you love your teeth, everything but the color, whitening is right for you. During your consult, we will help you determine if you are a good candidate for whitening.
Whitening is the most commonly prescribed cosmetic dental procedure in the world. You have several choices depending on your budget and life style. You can have your teeth whitened an average of 8 shades whiter in about an hour with an in-office whitening treatment, such as Zoom! by Discus Dental. Or you can wear teeth-whitening trays during the day or overnight using take-home products from the dentist. There are also whitening products available at the drug store, but these are not as effective, and there are some risks.
Whether you are a good candidate for whitening depends on what dental work you have already had done and what kind of teeth you have (teeth discolored from tetracycline or too much fluoride, for instance may bleach unevenly). Healthy yellow teeth (shade A2-A3.5 from the Vita Shade Guide) respond best to tooth whitening products. Darker gray, brown, and black hues are actually tougher to whiten. If you have darker teeth, you may use take-home trays for several weeks to months for optimal results. Keep in mind that only natural tooth structure will whiten, while veneers, crowns, and bonding remain their original color. So if you have a mixture of natural teeth and restored teeth, after you whiten your teeth, you will have the synthetic parts replaced to match your new lighter color.
There is a natural limit to how white your teeth can get. When you see people with really white teeth then 99.9% of the time it is because they've had absurdly white bonding, veneers, or crowns made. It is virtually impossible to bleach teeth to the point they look fake- if teeth look fake, chances are they are fake.
White teeth are so in right now. People want teeth as white as they can get them with the biggest concern is not to look fake. It's a good thing you won't be able to bleach your own natural tooth to the point it looks fake. What people are tolerating as white or what they consider a natural white is getting whiter and whiter. These white colors we are choosing today are 10 shades lighter that what was considered white 10 years ago. In reality none of the white colors we want today are natural looking, we are pushing the limits of what's tolerable by society's standards.
<<< Previous Page | Next Page >>>
© copyright 2005-2007, Olitsky Smiles, all rights reserved
