A dazzling smile can truly change your life.

If you are concerned about your smile you may be lacking confidence, which can affect your ability to perform at your best, both in the work place and socially.

Your smile is something people notice instantly. The way you use it attracts people's attention, with positive and negative results. Over time, through your lifestyle (smoking, drinking coffee or wine, for example) and aging, your teeth can stain and discolour.

At Lighthouse Beach Dental, the only whitening procedure that we recommend is "Take Home Whitening". With this technique we create custom-fitted paper thin mouthguards that are used as trays in which a whitening gel is placed. You will be provided with the correct amount of gentle gel along with instructions to witness the amazing change to your teeth.

The whitening mouthguards are normally worn overnight. This whitening treatment will take around 10 - 12 days to complete with the results gradually changing over that time.

The procedure is slow and gentle. Your teeth are precious. We do not want to shock them with any strong chemicals. Slow and gentle is the safe way to go.

With "Chair-side whitening ", a very strong bleaching chemical is placed on the teeth and it is strengthened by the application of a very bright, hot, light source. Whitening can occur in an hour or so, but, I am very concerned at the aggressive nature of this procedure. The chemicals are so strong that the gingiva needs to be covered to prevent the bleaching material from producing gum burns and teeth are usually very sensitive after the procedure.

My teeth are precious. I would not insult them with such an aggressive procedure, therefore, I will not do it to my patients' teeth. I understand that some people will still request chair-side whitening despite the potential harm. I am quite happy to refer these requests to a specialist who will ensure that any risks to teeth will be minimised.