How to get whiter teeth ?

Our teeth naturally lose their white color as we age, from external influences such as coffee, tea, red wine, soy sauce, caramel color, chocolate, smoking etc. a teeth whitening procedure will have a lot of cosmetic and medical benefits for your teeth, but not only that. The increased awareness for a healthy smile rapidly changes your hygiene habits for the better! As a result, Patients generally have significant improvements in oral and systemic health just from whitening their teeth! "Having your teeth whitened makes you feel good, it's like wearing a great outfit or a wonderful accessory!"
Therefore you start getting more compliments and see that others are looking at you in a different, nicer way, and that usually boosts your confidence! Teeth whitening is the easiest dental cosmetic procedure that can dramatically improve your smile!
So wouldn't you want a chance at all these many benefits? How can you get your teeth whiter, how hard is it and how much does it cost?
Well, you'll be surprised how easy, comfortable and inexpensive it is compared to the value you get!
You can try different whitening products you can buy at the drug store, but they only go that far. They work best to maintain your white teeth after you whitening procedure. They hardly go in between teeth or close to the gums, and you'll see the yellower shade there.
So the best way to do it is in a dental office, and let the professionals take care of this. Is it expensive? Some dentists offer free Zoom teeth whitening for new Patients, some charge up to a couple hundred dollars or so. It's totally worth it for the benefits you get, absolutely!
The problem with Zoom whitening is that it was invented about a decade ago and it was THE teeth whitening procedure at the time. But it has a major inconvenience, it takes a while to warm up the whitening substance on your teeth and that gives an uncomfortable sensation and sensitivity afterwards. That scared a  lot of people away and even the excitement of an easily improved smile wasn't able to bring them back.
Also, dentists who offer free teeth whitening hope that you need a teeth cleaning or a deep cleaning that they can charge for, or even some cavities to take care of, which you should do anyway.
But in the last few years a new technology involving Laser Teeth Whitening came up, which is a better, shorter process to activate the whitening gel. That's why it is faster and that means less to no discomfort and less to no sensitivity afterwards. Exactly, isn't that perfect? Isn't that what we all want and can't wait to get it done?
Yes it is!
Now, if only Patients wouldn't be so scared of sensitivity from the old process or previous bad experiences! And that's why we try to explain the difference and how easy and convenient this is, not like the old school whitening process.
Also, it most likely isn't free since the diode Laser used is a complex, expensive machine, but Aliso Viejo Dental has promotions all the time, we had it for $99 at one point. Isn't $99 worth getting your teeth whiter in as little as 20 minutes, with almost no discomfort or sensitivity? People who answered Yes to this question changed their lives in a day and improved their smiles, their self esteem, their chances for a better image, better relationships, maybe a promotion and a better version of themselves!

Turn The Tide on Opioids

There is a wave of reducing the prescriptions for opioids recently and that's a good thing!
We signed the pledge to #TurnTheTide on opioids on https://turnthetiderx.org, a site supported by the Surgeon General of the US, Cigna and other big names. You know there is something going on and there is a better chance to make things happen when the big hats get involved.
We believe in avoiding pain in the first place if possible,  that's why we start with Laser surgery to reduce post-operative pain whenever possible. And  we don't prescribe opioids anyway unless absolutely necessary and they are the LAST resort in managing pain.

Opioids are drugs that work by reducing the intensity of pain signals that reach your brain. These drugs can be helpful for a short time but they have serious risks.  

Let's not get into how we arrived here, nearly two decades ago US doctors were encouraged to be more aggressive about treating pain, often without enough training and support to do so safely. And this coincided with heavy marketing of opioids. Many doctors were even taught – incorrectly – that opioids are not addictive when prescribed for legitimate pain.

The results have been devastating. Since then the opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled and the prescriptions have increased tremendously, yet the amount of pain reported by Americans has not changed. Now, nearly 2 million people in America have a prescription opioid use disorder, contributing to increased heroin use and the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.


But we can turn this around, and everyone has do their part and it starts with each and every one of us.

A major way that people become addicted and overdose is by using someone else's opioid medications. So we should all store and dispose of those pills safely, keep opioid painkillers in a safe place and out of reach of others. Make sure to responsibly dispose of any unused opioids, check for any drug take-back program or your pharmacy mail-back or return program in your community to safely dispose of unused opioids. Please ask our office at Aliso Viejo Dental too, we can help with safe disposal of pain killers or other unused medications.

Opioid use disorder can occur when a patient has a hard time controlling his or her opioid use, which lead to significant health or social problems. There are effective treatments for opioid use disorder available, if you or someone you know has an addiction to pain medication, talk to your doctor or contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s treatment help line at (800) 662-HELP.