Every professional treatment has a recommended best practice - a set of dos and don’ts that dentists should follow to ensure they are keeping patients safe. And teeth whitening is no different…

While there are many best practices out there, we’ve created our own in line with the the latest laws and regulations. We recommend following these 9 steps each time you administer professional tooth whitening.

Start with an appropriate clinical examination to determine whether the patient is suitable for the treatment. This includes checking for any risk factors or oral pathology concerns.

Clinical photographs should be taken to help record the patient’s starting shade. For the best results, you should also refer to a shade guide and ensure that all photographs are captured in a controlled format for accuracy.

Style Italiano recommend a full frontal image (magnification 1:2) using lip retractors. It is also best practice to ensure there is minimal saliva present.

Once you’ve chosen your preferred tray design, it’s time to take the impressions of the patient’s teeth. These should then be sent to the laboratory so the tray can be created.

For the best results, patients should always be recommended to visit a Dental Hygienist. This will ensure teeth are in optimum condition prior to the whitening treatment, which will enhance the results achieved.

As soon as the tray is back from the laboratory, invite the patient back so you can check the fit.

If you and the patient are happy with the fit, you can now administer the first cycle of use. Use this time to demonstrate how they should apply the gel, instruct on wear time (based on the strength of the gel they are using and their individual needs) and run through the safety procedures.

All of White Dental Beauty’s whitening gels can be self-administered by patients at home. As well as reducing the amount of time spent in the dental chair and therefore costs, it also allows patients to maintain the colour of their teeth in the comfort of their own home.

Patients should complete the cycle of tooth whitening at home, as per your recommendation for treatment time.

During the treatment, recall the patient so you can assess how well they are managing the treatment. You should also use this time to answer any questions they might have, and re-cap on any key advice.

Once the treatment cycle is over, invite the patient back into the practice and review the results of the treatment.

This should involve taking clinical photographs and comparing to the shade guide, again in a controlled format.

This is the perfect opportunity to promote top-ups and other treatments that they might require.

If your patient requires top-ups, ask them to revisit your practice for another examination. This should include checking the fit of the tray and administering the initial cycle.

Keep your patients safe

This is our recommended tooth whitening protocol, but this might change depending on the needs of your patients. For more advice or guidance on the laws and regulations and the dos and don'ts of tooth whitening, be sure to check out our library of helpful resources.