Good to hear you are going in for your regular perio maintenance visits. Once diagnosed w/periodontal disease, this is lifelong. It’s episodic/periodic and it can have a mind of it’s own at times. It’s exacerbated by smoking, poor oral hygiene, underlying systemic disease, many others not mentioned and also genetics. Bone loss around your teeth is no joke. Stay on top of your flossing/brushing at least 2 day and definately the regular visits.
The matching stuff you are talking about sounds like you are describing tooth colored fillings as well, but used for cosmetic purposes to close gaps in front teeth or even discoloration or grooves as you say. If you noticed the filling is wearing down, indentations or any material missing, it may have broken/chipped away. Yes, from what you are describing it can be replaced. If it is a composite (tooth colored) filling (which that’s what it sounds like), it shouldn’t be a problem to match your existing tooth color and rebond or redo the filling to fill in the pot holes if you will.
One hour whitening is great stuff, but it does not last forever. If you get some whitening trays from your dentist w/take home bleach, it will help maintain the “whiteness” shade you achieved w/the in office bleach. Basically whitening comes in strengths of active ingredient (carbamide peroxide) in the bleach used. Over the counter around 5% or less. Take home bleach goes from 10%-20% and 1 hour whitening uses 25% – 40% active ingredient. The higher the concentration, the whiter the teeth get but you will get increased sensitivity too for a couple of days after use. The problem w/over the counter bleach is the percentage is too low to notice a “pop” or “bling” whiteness to your teeth. Whitening toothpaste also does not stay on your teeth long enough to really do much good. Yes, i’m an advocate of In Office Bleaching, but knowing it won’t last forever depending on your diet. Minimize red whine, coffee, tea, or dark colored beverages. Also, if you can’t drop the tea habit, use a straw every time you drink these. It will help tremendously.
