Laser Teeth Whitening at Neo-Derm

A visit to Neo-Derm differs from what you’d expect from a typical spa experience with fluffy towels and a fragrant cloud of aromatherapy oils. That’s because this spa clinic, on the first floor of the grand Milton Hall on Deansgate, offers a range of more medical aesthetic treatments to enhance all areas of the body from top to toe, including cosmetic dentistry which is located on the second floor.

Confidential sent one of their food writers over for a teeth whitening experience to offset all the red wine and after dinner coffees she’s been guzzling over the years. Teeth are porous and stains can become embedded, so no matter how much you brush, they won’t budge without a little extra help.

Firstly, there’s an initial consultation to cover a few basic issues regarding your personal dental care routine and to declare any allergies. In the consultation room there’s a plastic model of teeth in various shades of cream, buttermilk and ivory by which to compare your pearly whites before and after the procedure. Don’t expect it to be like a nail salon or hairdressers where you can choose the shade you want. If you look closely, you’ll see that naturally, teeth are not one single colour throughout and due to thickness of the individual’s enamel, there can also be quite a difference between the colour of the top row and the lesser seen bottom teeth. Tooth whitening at Neo-Derm promises to lighten the existing colour of your teeth by around three to six shades.

The whitening procedure comes after a regular twenty minute scale and polish to remove any build-up of excess tartar and to prepare the surface of the teeth. After this, you are given some hyper-trendy, oversized red sunglasses to protect your eyes from the UV light and a mouth guard – which you will wear for the next hour. The guard is designed to hold your lips and tongue away from your teeth and although it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, it’s not too bad.

A specially formulated gel is then applied to the teeth which oxidize into tiny molecules, smaller than the pores within the teeth. These molecules enter the pores, helping to eradicate the staining. The gel is applied by brush three times at twenty minute intervals whilst you lie perfectly still under a lamp and sleep/meditate/listen to a podcast. You are unable to speak whilst wearing this but don’t worry, members of staff pop back every few minutes or so to gently check if you’re comfortable and feeling ok.

After the third and final application has worked its magic you can then rinse the gel off and look in the mirror to see how many shades your teeth have been lightened by.

There is the option to purchase some gel to help prolong the effects of the tooth whitening procedure but the general advice is to stay off coloured food and drinks (black tea, coffee, red wine) for the next two days or so. We were advised to stick to white food, but as that covers pasta, gin, bread, milk, cheese and rice, it’s not such a hardship. We were warned that we might experience a slight increase in tooth sensitivity after the process (we didn’t as it happens) but that it would fade after a few hours.

So there you have it; laser teeth whitening with a polish and scale in a few easy steps. Neo-Derm have made it possible to give your mouth a spruce up and remove the build-up of stains from years spent knocking back the red wine and the cups of builders tea.