Teeth Whitening in Ashburton

How professional whitening works

Zoom! uses a professional-grade whitening agent to change the appearance of staining and your natural tooth colour. Before starting, your dentist assesses your teeth and gums and discusses what may influence your result — the type of staining, your starting shade, any existing restorations, and lifestyle habits. Everyone’s starting point is different.

In-chair or take-home

In-chair Zoom! is completed in a single appointment of about an hour. Custom take-home kits let you whiten gradually on your own schedule, following your dentist’s instructions. Some patients combine both — an in-chair session first, then take-home top-ups later.

Before you whiten

A check-up first lets us look for decay, gum concerns, sensitivity, and restorations such as crowns or veneers that whitening will not change. It is also the time to talk expectations, so you can decide with accurate information.

Frequently asked questions

Getting the best result from whitening

Whitening works best on clean, healthy teeth, which is why we recommend a check-up and scale before starting — plaque and calculus block the gel, and treating over undiagnosed decay or gum disease is a bad idea. During treatment, cutting back on tea, coffee, red wine and smoking makes a real difference to the final shade. Afterwards, the result typically holds for a year or two before a gentle top-up with your take-home trays; most patients keep their trays and refresh once a year.

A note on expectations: whitening lifts your natural shade, it doesn’t produce a uniform white. Teeth with grey undertones or tetracycline staining respond more slowly, and a single dark tooth after root canal treatment usually needs internal whitening rather than a standard course. We’ll assess your teeth and tell you what’s realistic before you pay for anything.

Teeth whitening — common questions