Tooth Bleaching

 

A walking bleach is used to whiten a tooth that has previously had a root canal. It is an effective, less costly, and conservative alternative to a more invasive esthetic treatment such as placement of crowns or veneers for some discolored teeth. The bleaching material, a mixture of sodium perborate & concentrated hydrogen peroxide, must be inserted inside the tooth, or root canal access opening.

Root canalled teeth may become discolored for a variety of reasons. Some of the main causes of discoloration are:

  • Previous trauma to the tooth (breakdown of the blood in the root canal).

  • Caries (decay)

  • Staining of old and leaky fillings

  • Due to materials used to actually fill the root canal space, or

  • Due to medications used in the root canal procedure.

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Before bleaching teeth with old root canals, it is important to take an x-ray of the tooth. This is done to check the status of the root canal filling and to make sure there is no infection present. Bleaching can be unpredictable and multiple visits (2-4), may be required to achieve the desired whitening effect.

During the whitening procedure, an opening is made into the tooth; the bleaching agent is packed into the tooth chamber, followed by a temporary filling that will keep the bleaching agent inside the tooth chamber. After the final bleaching visit, it is important to follow up with an additional visit, in order to ‘medicate’ the tooth and put a final temporary filling in place. The final medication is a calcium hydroxide paste that is used to help prevent one of the few and rare complications of bleaching, cervical invasive resorption.

A permanent filling should be placed by your general dentist after 3 weeks. Placing the permanent filling is delayed to maximize the bond strength of the permanent filling to the tooth enamel and dentin.