How to Whiten Dental Bridges

Dental bridges are used to replace a missing tooth. Your dentist will help you determine which type of dental bridge is best for your needs. The bridge consists of a false tooth between two dental crowns, and your dentist will make sure the false tooth matches the color of your surrounding natural teeth. However, if at any time you decide to use teeth whitening products, your natural teeth will be whitened, but the false tooth will stay the same color. Because whitening products don't work for the false teeth used in dental bridges, you'll need to get a replacement dental bridge if you want your false tooth whitened. The new false tooth will match the color of your whitened natural teeth.

Things You'll Need

• Extraction forceps
• Impression tray
• Impression material
• Dental cement

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Instructions

• 1

  Schedule an appointment with your dentist. Explain that you'd like to have the false tooth in your dental bridge replaced with one that matches your natural teeth color. Make sure you've whitened your natural teeth to the exact shade you want before scheduling your appointment.

• 2

  Be prepared for your dentist to remove the existing dental bridge. Your dentist will use a local anesthetic before beginning the procedure. He'll then remove your existing dental bridge using extraction forceps.

• 3

  Relax for a moment while your dentist gets ready to take impressions of your teeth. He'll fill an impression tray with impression material and place it firmly over your teeth. After the material dries, he'll remove the tray. The resulting mold will be used to create your new dental bridge. Once the mold is finished, your first appointment is over.

• 4

  Wait for your dentist to contact you to schedule your next appointment. You should be contacted as soon as the dental bridge is ready. During your second appointment, your dentist will use dental cement to secure the crowns that will surround the new false tooth. The false tooth is placed in the gap between the crowns, and as the crowns are cemented in place, the false tooth is secured as well. After the crown is secured, your new dental bridge is complete.