I am approaching middle age and have never been happy with the color of my teeth. What are my options?

A. The most conservative approach is the home bleaching systems provided by a dental offices. These usually consist of custom trays that have been designed to hold the home bleaching gel, a 10-20% carbamine peroxide, in intimate contact with the teeth for an hour or more at a time. This procedure is often done at night, while sleeping, for 5-10nights. The amount of lightening of the teeth is dependent on the length of time the bleaching agent is used, its concentration and the repeated daily application. The safety of the system has been reported to have no damage to the teeth and only an occasional tooth sensitivity that is very transient. The lighter color of the teeth tends to remain but some return to original color after a number of months. This can be reversed by a reapplication of the bleaching solution. Another approach is to have a one visit power bleaching at the office. Another approach to improved tooth appearance is with thin porcelain cosmetic veneers. This would be ...  more