Results vary depending on your diet, habits, and oral hygiene. With good care and limiting staining foods and drinks, professional whitening can last 1–3 years. Touch-up treatments — either in-chair or with take-home trays — help maintain your results over time without needing a full treatment again.

It is best to avoid coffee, tea, red wine, cola, and other staining drinks for 48 hours after whitening. Your teeth are more porous during this period and absorb stains much more easily than usual. After 48 hours, you can return to your normal routine, though using a straw for dark drinks can help protect your results long-term.

Sensitivity is the most common side effect and is caused by the whitening gel temporarily opening the pores in your enamel. This usually lasts 24–48 hours and resolves on its own within a few days. Using sensitive toothpaste like Sensodyne before and after treatment helps, and avoiding very hot or cold foods during this period will keep you more comfortable.

No, whitening only works on natural tooth enamel. Crowns, veneers, and fillings will not change colour with whitening treatment. If your existing restorations no longer match your newly whitened teeth, talk to us about replacement options to achieve a uniform appearance across your smile.

You can eat straight away, but stick to the “white diet” for the first 48 hours — foods and drinks that would not stain a white shirt. Good choices include water, milk, white rice, pasta, chicken, fish, bananas, and plain yoghurt. Avoid anything deeply coloured like berries, tomato sauce, curry, soy sauce, or beetroot.

Yes, professional whitening supervised by a dentist is safe for your enamel. The whitening agents used in professional treatments are carefully formulated and applied in controlled concentrations. Your enamel may feel temporarily more porous after treatment, but it remineralises and returns to its normal state within a few days.

It is normal for teeth to appear slightly uneven in colour immediately after whitening, as different areas of enamel whiten at different rates. This usually evens out within 24–48 hours as the teeth rehydrate. If you still notice uneven results after 3 days, contact us — we can assess whether a touch-up treatment would help.

Yes, if you have custom take-home whitening trays from us, you can do periodic touch-ups at home to maintain your results. Follow the instructions provided with your kit regarding gel concentration and wear time. Over-the-counter whitening products are less effective than professional-grade treatments, so talk to us if you would like take-home trays.

Teeth can appear slightly mottled or patchy immediately after whitening because different areas of the enamel have different thicknesses and respond to the whitening gel at different rates. White spots may also become temporarily more visible. This evens out within 24–48 hours as the teeth rehydrate and the colour stabilises.