Teeth whitening
Westlake, Cape Town
Cape Town address: Shop 32, Westlake Lifestyle Centre, Westlake Dr, Westlake, Cape Town, 7945
TEL/WHATSAPP: 083 378 3392
Teeth whitening
Your Smile creates your first impression and a whiter smile from Betta Smile will have all those that you engage with smiling back and remembering you.
The Bettasmile Difference
To whiten your teeth to their maximum, we will need 2-3 hours of your time. Can you spare the time for a smile that will change your entire outlook on life? Of course you can.
Everyone in brighter smiles
Your Smile is one of your most valuable assets. It is often the first thing people notice about you. No matter how gorgeous you are, if you smile and your teeth have been neglected, are yellow and you haven’t taken care of them, it can be so off putting. Our teeth and mouths are expressions of our personality. We help you to take care of your smile and preserve it for years to come. Our job is to make sure that all your dental needs are met and help you smile with confidence.
Call Colleen: 083 378 3392
Everybody can and deserves to have a healthy and beautiful smile.
Ours is a specialized Dental Care Centre. We offer quality dental services and our Dental Hygienist has been honored with international awards of excellence. We use the latest Scientific approach to Dentistry. Dentistry, that is safe, convenient and same day dentistry.
We use a Teeth Whitening system that is safe, effective and cost-efficient. This Betta Smile Bleaching System is not only extremely effective, but has become very popular because of the convenience. The patient is very comfortable during the whitening procedure and leaves the dental practice smiling. There is a 95% success rate of whitening the teeth irreversibly. When hair is bleached it grows out. This is not the case with teeth. Teeth remain white after bleaching. It is a semi-permanent process which can last for years. There is no pain during, or after the whitening process.
The procedure itself is painless and the patient is very comfortable. In very few cases there may be slight sensitivity but this does not last longer than a few hours.
We use a 50% carbamide peroxide, directly applied onto the teeth while the lips are retracted. It is a 2 hour process. The patients is relaxed and watches one of the latest movies. At the end of the movie, the patient leaves with WHITE teeth. Post procedure, it is important to avoid foods like curry, red wine, soya sauce, beetroot and food with colourants…..for two days only and then revert back to your normal diet.
Frequently asked questions
Will Teeth Whitening Damage My Teeth?
An Honest Answer From 11 Years of Whitening Thousands of Smiles
“Will teeth whitening damage my teeth?”
It is one of the questions I am asked all the time at BettaSmile, and I completely understand why people ask it.
Everyone wants beautiful white teeth, but nobody wants to make their teeth weaker or damage them in the process.
After more than 11 years of whitening teeth professionally, and having whitened approximately 8,000 people’s teeth, I have developed a very strong belief in the importance of using the right product, the right strength, the correct treatment time and the correct technique.
And I would never ask a patient to do something I wasn’t prepared to do myself.
I whitened my own daughter’s teeth
About eight years ago, I whitened my daughter’s teeth.
I would never have done that if I did not have confidence in the product and the safety of the method I was using.
Eight years later, her teeth are still white. She still gets compliments on them.
That has been very satisfying for me because it reinforces something I have seen repeatedly in my patients: when professional whitening is done properly, the result can be remarkably long-lasting.
Of course, one person’s experience is not scientific proof that every person’s teeth will behave in exactly the same way. But after treating thousands of patients, I have a very large amount of practical experience to draw upon.
My comprehensive teeth whitening records
I have recorded where each person started on the shade guide and where they finished.
These books were never intended to be formal scientific research. I kept them for my own professional reference and, if I’m honest, for my own satisfaction.
I wanted to know what I could achieve.
I wanted to see whether I could consistently take patients to the beautiful white shade they had come to me for.
And I have found that I can achieve excellent whitening results from a very wide range of starting shades.
Patients may begin at A4, A5, D4 or other shades of yellow, brown or grey. Some teeth are naturally much darker than others.
My aim is to persevere and achieve the lightest beautiful shade that the patient’s natural teeth can reach.
Very often, that is around B1 or A1 on the traditional shade guides.
Sometimes the teeth initially go even lighter, but over time they tend to settle back slightly.
I don’t want an artificial-looking smile. I want a beautiful, bright, natural smile.
I sometimes describe the artificial appearance as looking like a “piano keyboard” — something you can occasionally see with very white veneers or restorations.
That is not what I am trying to achieve.
What about sensitivity?
Not everyone experiences it, but some people do. The American Dental Association describes temporary tooth sensitivity as one of the most common side effects of vital-tooth whitening, and it is generally mild and temporary.
In my own practice, I have found that some patients — particularly smokers and ex-smokers — can be more aware of sensitivity.
I cannot give a scientifically established percentage from my own records because I didn’t formally measure sensitivity in a research study. My personal impression is that perhaps 5–10% of my patients experience noticeable sensitivity, while the majority do not.
And the important thing is that the patients who do experience it have generally found it manageable and temporary. They don’t come back saying they regret having their teeth whitened. In fact, they are generally so pleased with the result that they return and recommend the treatment to other people.
I use UltraEZ at the end of the whitening procedure to help manage sensitivity. It is a desensitising gel, and I have found it very useful.
If a patient needs pain relief, an appropriate over-the-counter medicine may also be considered if it is safe for that particular person and used according to the product instructions.
What about whitening smokers teeth?
Once the external smoking stains have been removed with a good professional cleaning, I can often achieve an excellent whitening result.
The important point is that smoking creates extrinsic staining. Even if those stains return later, that does not necessarily mean that the underlying whitening has disappeared.
Research supports an important part of my observation: studies have found that smokers can achieve substantial whitening with carbamide peroxide, and one long-term study found that whitening remained stable in smokers and non-smokers when extrinsic stains were removed through professional dental prophylaxis.
Smoking will obviously make it easier for new surface staining to develop, but a professional cleaning can remove those stains and reveal the much lighter underlying tooth colour again.
What actually whitens the tooth?
Carbamide peroxide is one of the established peroxide-based ingredients used for professional tooth whitening. It breaks down to release hydrogen peroxide, which can penetrate enamel and dentine and react with the coloured compounds responsible for tooth discolouration.
This is why professional whitening is not simply a matter of removing something from the outside of the tooth.
There is a very important difference between extrinsic staining and intrinsic discolouration.
Coffee, tea, cigarettes and red wine can leave stains on the outside of the teeth. Those are extrinsic stains and can often be removed very effectively with professional cleaning.
Intrinsic discolouration is within the tooth itself. Peroxide whitening can act on the coloured molecules within enamel and dentine.
So although the whitening gel is applied to the outside of the natural tooth, the chemical whitening process can affect the colour within the dental tissues.
That is why I describe it to patients as whitening from within the tooth rather than simply cleaning the surface.
Yellow teeth are not necessarily unhealthy teeth
Another thing I want people to understand is that naturally yellowish teeth are not necessarily weak teeth.
Dentine underneath the enamel is naturally yellower, and as we age the enamel can become thinner and more translucent, allowing more of that underlying dentine colour to show through.
So a naturally yellow tooth isn’t automatically an unhealthy tooth.
My objective is to change the colour while respecting the health and structure of the tooth.
Does carbamide peroxide actually do anything beneficial?
The particular whitening products I use are formulated with ingredients intended to support the teeth while whitening, and some whitening formulations include ingredients such as fluoride, potassium nitrate or calcium/phosphate compounds for remineralisation or sensitivity management.
However, I would not say that carbamide peroxide itself is a cavity-prevention treatment. Fluoride, for example, is the established ingredient used to strengthen enamel and help prevent dental caries.
My confidence comes from the complete products I use, how I use them and the results I have observed over many years.
Why product strength, time and storage matter
Through years of trial and experience with different products, I have consistently gravitated towards two particular products that I trust.
I have also learned how important the condition of the product is.
Fresh stock matters.
Correct storage matters.
If whitening material is not stored according to the manufacturer’s requirements, its effectiveness can be affected. That is why I am very particular about the products I use and how they are stored.
The strength of the whitening product matters, but so does how long it remains in contact with the teeth.
Getting to the best possible shade isn’t simply a matter of using the strongest product available. It is about using the correct product, concentration, time and technique.
My experience goes beyond my own surgery
My experience with teeth whitening eventually led to opportunities to educate other dental professionals.
I was invited by Ultradent to the Key Educators Conference in Utah, where I was one of the principal educators speaking to an international audience of dentists.
I was asked to lecture on the whitening method I use and the products I use from America.
I was also invited to Indiana to meet and learn from Dr Bruce A. Matis, whose extensive clinical research at Indiana University School of Dentistry includes tooth-whitening studies.
Dr Matis and his colleagues have published research examining carbamide-peroxide whitening, tooth sensitivity, colour change and longer-term results. One of their studies followed patients with difficult tetracycline staining who used carbamide peroxide for six months, with follow-up extending to five years.
Another Indiana University study compared carbamide-peroxide formulations and specifically evaluated whitening and sensitivity.
This scientific work has been very interesting to me because it overlaps with many of the things I have observed in my own practice.
Is teeth whitening safe during pregnancy?
However, I would not describe my personal experience as scientific proof that whitening is safe during pregnancy.
Teeth whitening during pregnancy is an area where there is limited safety evidence, and because whitening is an elective cosmetic treatment, a cautious approach is to discuss it with the patient’s healthcare professional and generally defer elective whitening until after pregnancy.
I believe it is important to be honest about the difference between what I have personally experienced and what has been formally established by research.
Does teeth whitening damage teeth?
When the appropriate professional whitening product and protocol are used correctly, tooth whitening is generally considered a safe and effective cosmetic procedure, but it is not something that should be overused or performed indiscriminately.
Temporary sensitivity and gum irritation are recognised side effects, and excessive or inappropriate use can cause problems.
That is why I am so particular about the products I use, the strength, the treatment time, the storage, the technique and the individual patient.
After 11 years and approximately 8,000 patients, I have enormous confidence in what professional whitening can achieve.
And the proof that means the most to me is simple:
I trusted the method enough to whiten my own daughter’s teeth. Eight years later, they are still white.