Zoom! Whitening

What is Zoom! tooth whitening?

Zoom! is a bleaching process that lightens discoloration of enamel and dentin. You may have seen the Zoom! process used on ABC’s Extreme Makeover.


How long does Zoom! Chairside Whitening take?
The complete procedure takes less than an hour. The procedure begins with a preparation period followed as little as by 45 minutes of bleaching. (A cleaning is recommended prior to the actual Zoom! whitening session.)

How does the Zoom! In-office system work?
The Zoom! light activated whitening gel’s active ingredient is Hydrogen Peroxide. As the Hydrogen Peroxide is broken down, oxygen enters the enamel and dentin, bleaching colored substances while the structure of the tooth is unchanged. The Zoom! light aids in activating the hydrogen peroxide and helps it penetrate the surface of the tooth. A study has shown that use of the Zoom! lamp increases the effectiveness of the Zoom! gel by 26% or more, giving an average improvement of up to eight shades.

What will I experience during the Zoom! In-Office Procedure?
During the procedure, patients may comfortably watch television or listen to music. Individuals with a strong gag reflex or anxiety may have difficulty undergoing the entire procedure.

How long do the results last?
By following some simple post whitening care instructions, your teeth will always be lighter than they were before. To keep your teeth looking their best, we recommend flossing, brushing twice daily, and occasional touch-ups with Zoom! Weekender or Nite White gel. These are professional formula products designed specifically to keep your teeth their brightest. They are available only through your dental professional.

Are there any side effects?
Sensitivity during the treatment may occur with some patients. The Zoom! light generates minimal heat which is the usual source of discomfort. On rare occasions, minor tingling sensations are experienced immediately after the procedure, but always dissipate. You can also ask your dentist to supply you with anti-sensitivity toothpaste for use prior to treatment.

What causes tooth discoloration?
There are many causes. The most common include aging and consumption of staining substances such as coffee, tea, colas, tobacco, red wine, etc. During tooth formation, consumption of tetracycline, certain antibiotics or excessive fluoride may also cause tooth discoloration.

Do many people whiten their teeth?
More people than you might imagine. A bright sparkling smile can make a big difference for everyone. The Zoom! Chairside Whitening System makes it easier and faster than ever before.

Who may benefit from tooth whitening?
Almost anyone. However, treatment may not be as effective for some as it is for others. Your dental professional can determine if you are a viable candidate for this procedure through a thorough oral exam, including a shade assessment.

Is whitening safe?
Yes. Extensive research and clinical studies indicate that whitening teeth under the supervision of a dentist is safe. In fact, many dentists consider whitening the safest cosmetic dental procedure available. As with any tooth whitening product, Zoom! is not recommended for children under 13 years of age and pregnant or lactating women.

Bruxism/Teeth grinding

Bruxism is the medical term for grinding, gnashing or clenching your teeth. The condition affects both children and adults.

Some people with bruxism unconsciously clench their teeth together during the day, often when they feel anxious or tense. This is different from tooth grinding or clenching that occurs at night, which is called sleep bruxism. Most children who are bruxers do so at night, while adults are either daytime or nighttime bruxers.

Bruxism may be mild and may not even require treatment. However, it can be frequent and severe enough to lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damaged teeth and other problems. Unfortunately, people with sleep bruxism usually aren't aware of the habit, so they aren't diagnosed with the condition until complications occur. That's why it's important to know the signs and symptoms of bruxism and to seek regular dental care.

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With the New Year ahead

With the New Year ahead of us, Dr. Mostofi’s office would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continual support and many referrals. We would also like to share some wonderful office, as well as personal news with you. In July 2008, Dr. Mostofi and his wife welcomed their first child, Cameron, into the world. Cameron is now smiling and Dr. Mostofi is anxiously awaiting his first tooth.

Beginning in February 2009, tune into TLC’s hit show “10 Years Younger” to see
Dr. Mostofi transform smiles through full-mouth reconstruction, placement of porcelain veneers, tissue recontouring, laser teeth whitening, and porcelain fillings. Through such procedures Dr. Mostofi is able to take years off of each patient.

We would also like to remind our patients who have a dental insurance plan that their insurance benefits for 2008 are coming to an end. If you have been putting off that cleaning or need a porcelain crown, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the insurance benefits you have already paid for in 2008. For a limited time, we are also providing $50.00 off of our popular ZOOM!® Advanced Teeth Whitening treatment to brighten up your smiles for the holiday season.

As always, we are here to provide you with excellent care to maintain your smile for a lifetime.

Dr.Mostofi will be featured on TLC's hit show 10 Years Younger, beginning February 2009.

What makes a beautiful smile?

1.Line Angles
In a beautiful smile the teeth are angled towards the middle of the body.

2.Symmetrical Gums
Without symmetrical gums, beautiful teeth can look like a beautiful picture with an average frame. Symmetry of the gums can be achieved with laser gum contouring.

3.Beautiful Centrals
A youthful, beautiful smile starts with long, white, gorgeous front teeth.

4.Golden Proportions
Both artists and scientists alike have noticed that beautiful things in nature have what we call the gold proportions. Beautiful veneers are made with this in mind, so your teeth have perfect visual harmony.

5.Color & Shape
The shape and color of our teeth should be in harmony with the shape of our face, eyes, and skin tone. All these things should be considered in the design process.

Look 10 Years Younger in One Day!

A Beautiful Smile makes a difference and so does a bad one. Unlike fine wines, our smiles do not improve with age. As we age our teeth lose their luster and it's not just about teeth. As time moves on, our lips become less plump and gravity draws our upper lip down covering our upper teeth.

Every day more and more people are having their smiles transformed to enhance their overall appearance. Choosing the right dentist to perform these aesthetic procedures can save you years of unnecessary dental repair, as well as time and money.

Sedation Dentistry

1. Oral Sedation is a safe and effective way of relieving the fear and anxiety associated with going to the dentist
2. Dentists have used oral medications for many years to relieve fear and apprehension associated with dental appointments
3. It works well for most patients allowing them to relax and have little or no memory of their dental appointments (partial or total amnesia)
4. Its easy, you take a pill one hour prior to your dental appointment
5. Some patients are so relaxed that they sleep right through their dental appointment. When someone is relaxed they will feel less tired after a long dental appointment.
6. Patients are so relaxed and comfortable, that a large amount of complex treatment can be accomplished in a single appointment
7. People who have trouble getting numb are often helped by Oral Sedation Dentistry
8. If you are scared of needles, sedation dentistry can help you
9. People who have difficulty controlling movements, such as Parkinson’s Disease or Cerebral Palsy are often helped by oral sedation
10. The dentist can complete more dental treatment of higher quality, in a shorter period of time, on a patient who is relaxed

Laser Gum Surgery for a Beautiful Smile

LASER GUM SURGERY CAN CREATE A BEAUTIFUL SMILE
The shape, color and appearance of your teeth can easily be changed to create a beautiful smile with modern cosmetic dentistry techniques, such as tooth whitening, tooth-colored fillings, dental implants and porcelain veneers. However, most people are not aware that a Cosmetic Dentist also can create a beautiful smile with subtle changes to their gums using soft-tissue lasers that recontour the gum-line. Recontouring of your gums can drastically change and improve the natural balance of your smile.
The soft-tissue laser is one of the newer dental tools available to the Cosmetic Dentist. It can be used often without any anesthetic to reshape your gums painlessly to give a beautifully sculptured smile that would be the envy of a Hollywood movie star. Laser gum surgery may be appropriate for you in the following situations:
• Teeth appear small or short
• Gums appear large and dominate your smile
• Gum tissue appearance is different on each side of your mouth
• Overall balance between gums and teeth is not proportional
• Gum contours around teeth are not correct or uneven
When you smile, very little gum should be visible. The majority of your smile should exhibit your beautiful teeth, with just a hint of gum showing above the teeth. Each tooth should have a nicely arched and contoured gum-line above it. The soft-tissue laser offers a painless, minimally invasive, non-anesthesia surgery that is an extremely successful method of obtaining a beautiful smile.
A beautiful smile created with soft-tissue laser surgery is accomplished simply by rebalancing the amount of gum tissue that is exposed in relationship to the amount of tooth structure that is showing and recontouring the gums around each tooth to appear balanced. Patients having soft-tissue laser therapy heal quickly and without the discomfort associated with traditional periodontal gum surgery done with anesthetic. Additional information regarding cosmetic dental procedures may be found at
www.centurysmile.com

Are you brushing right?

The first step is to choose a good toothbrush. You always want to use a soft brush with a small head. A soft brush is hard enough to remove plaque and soft enough not to damage your teeth or gum.
The next issue is to choose a good toothpaste. In general any toothpaste that contains Fluoride will do the job, unless you have a special need that is determined by your dentist. Two of the best brands of toothpastes are Colgate Total and Crest Multicare.
The first rule of brushing is to start from a specific location and work your way to the opposite side and all the way through the whole mouth so that you end where you started. This way you won’t miss any area. Also usually a pea size of tooth paste is enough. A good brushing should at lease take 2 minutes and ideally around 4 minutes.
There are many different techniques for brushing your teeth but one of the most popular ones is described here:
Hold the brush with a 45 degree angle toward the teeth and the gum. Gently press against the gum so the tips of the bristles go in between the gum and the teeth. Then apply lateral vibration for a few times and roll down the brush to sweep the plaque away from the teeth and the gum. Repeat this motion 6 to 10 times and move on to the next area of 2 to 3 teeth. If your mouth is full of foam, spit out and continue brushing. Your brushing is completed when you have brushed all the surfaces of your teeth and not when your mouth is full!
On chewing surfaces, short strokes will work best to get the plaque out of the grooves and pits. Also when brushing the front teeth from inside, hold your brush vertically to be able to reach the teeth better.
As far as frequency of brushing is concerned, ideally you want to brush your teeth after each meal. But if you can t, brush at least twice a day after breakfast and before going to bed.

Dental Financing

Dental Financing - there are many dental treatment payment plans available through various finance companies.

Finance Your Veneers Over the Years!

The biggest obstacle that gets in the way of major dental work is money. You either have it up front or you don't! There are different wants and needs relating to your smile. Want based dentistry is most often cosmetic and with any esthetic procedure, there is an out of pocket expense that has to be paid up front to the dentist.

Dental Financing companies have been popping up everywhere to cash in on the makeover boom. More and more people will do anything to get a new smile. The great news is you the consumer have options. Two of the biggest companies in the dental financing biz are Dental Fee Plan and Care Credit. Both are large companies that have thousands of dentists referring patients to their service. Are they the only companies will to loan you money for dental work. No. There are finance companies owned by banks and there are independent dental finance brokers that work with multple lenders that have a little more flexibility to shop around and find you the best interest rate.

Is Dental Financing Worth It? Should You Wait?

The biggest question to ask yourself is: "How important is my smile and how will having a better or improved smile affect me? There can be thousands of different answers to this question. The first that comes to mind is increased self esteem and confidence. Smiles affect both our personal and professional lives and have a dramatic effect on how people perceive your personality. We finance many other goods and services, cars, homes, furniture etc. so why not make an investment in yourself? Makes sense, because the biggest asset anyone has is themselves!! If you can afford a monthly payment and it will not cause undue hardship on your personal finances, dental financing may be worth taking a look at.

What Kinds of Dental Treatment Can Be Financed?

Most dental finance companies will loan you money for most cosmetic procedures. Porcelain veneers, dental implants, orthodontics, invisibles braces and restorative dentistry procedures can be financed.

How Do I Get Financing for Dental Treatment if I Have Poor Credit History?

So, if dental financing is the answer to getting your treatment completed and you have bad credit you'll have to get a co-signer. There are multiple lenders in the market and some focus on helping people who have had bad credit history get financing for a variety of reasons, not just for dental care. Some banks may decline your application but others may approve you, except that you'll probably be paying a higher interest rate. Shop around, money is money and you will be paying regardless of what dental financing company you go with. Interest rates today are still relatively low compared to previous years. Make sure you get a competitive rate if that's the path you choose to follow. With a co-signer you may increase your chances of getting approved and have the option to exercise the loan for your dental treatment.

Teeth Whitening Brings Self-confidence and Happier Lifestyle to Millions

When you think of a really happy and successful person, you envision a smartly dressed individual who’s full of energy and always ready to give a radiant smile. If you are not happy with your smile you tend to hold back and not smile. The negative energy you give affects every aspect of your life – your relationships, your career, your well-being. Simple whitening with Zoom! Advanced can transform a smile’s brightness, and we also offer complete smile makeovers.

Dental hygiene students learn the importance of good nutrition

Students at the University of Southern California's (USC) Dental Hygiene Program are being taught about the importance of passing on good lifestyle habits to their patients.

While some may believe that good tooth care is just about brushing and flossing regularly, the would-be dental hygienists are learning a more holistic approach to dental health, the Los Angeles Downtown News reports.

Diane Melrose, chair of the program, revealed that students working at the Dental Hygiene Clinic liaise with patients to put together a five-day diet diary, which allows them to examine nutritional habits and suggest changes that could be made to improve the health of their teeth.

She told the newspaper that she advises patients to look out for hidden sugars, such as those found in chewing gum, fruit juice, chips and even certain medicines.

It was recently revealed that energy and sports drinks are the worst kind of sodas for eroding tooth enamel, particularly in children and adolescents.

Chinese Dental Labs Turn Lead into Gold…?

When a 73-year-old Ohio woman fell ill, the news made national headlines. It wasn’t old age, or pneumonia, or cancer, or anything else you might expect. She had gotten lead poisoning from her new dental bridge.

Though she’d visited an American dentist, the bridge itself had been fabricated by a Chinese lab. Let me assure you that this is major news.

Your dentist is only as good as his or her dental laboratory

In my practice I am very selective of the laboratories that I work with. The best results come from having a relationship with a knowledgeable dental laboratory that has both expertise and access to all the latest materials.

Are people with whiter teeth smarter?

A new study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) reveals that people with a whiter-than-white smile are perceived smarter than duller-toothed counterparts!

The study – carried out in the States via the internet – was aimed at ascertaining what impact attractive teeth have on perceptions of an individual's appearance and personality and used ‘before and after' pictures of people who had undergone cosmetic surgery.

No respondent ever saw the same person with both a ‘before' and ‘after' smile but all respondents viewed the same set of eight individuals.

After seeing each picture, respondents rated each person on the following attributes:

• Attractive
• Intelligent
• Happy
• Successful in their career
• Friendly
• Interesting
• Kind
• Wealthy
• Popular with the opposite sex
• Sensitive to other people

Respondents used a 1 to 10 scale where a ‘1' represents ‘not at all' and a ‘10' represents ‘extremely.'

The statistical analysis demonstrates that there is a major effect of a smile on perceptions of all major attributes.

In each case, people are viewed as more attractive, intelligent, happy, successful in their career, friendly, interesting, kind, wealthy and popular with the opposite sex with smiles that have been altered by cosmetic dentistry versus their original smiles.

AACD awards best celebrity smiles

Never mind the Golden Globes and Oscars, we are more excited about the winners of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry's (AACD) 2008's Best Celebrity Smiles contest. And what a line-up they are.

Eva Mendes took the top prize in the women's category with 38 percent of the votes followed by Anne Hathaway who had 12 percent. Kate Hudson came in third.

Brad Pitt's famous grin was awarded first place, and David Beckham's was ranked a close second. Will Smith's perfect pearly whites earned him third place.

Free Bleaching Kit!

Refer a new patient and receive a free Bleaching Kit!
Referring a new Patient is Easy

Referring a new patient is as easy as telling someone our phone number, website or office address. That's because every new patient in our office completes a Pre-Consultation form, with a "Referred by" field available for entry. As long as they record your name and complete the consultation, you get a free Whitening Kit from Dr. Mostofi.

Intra-oral Imaging

A picture paints a thousand words! We use a special camera that take images of teeth inside the mouth. We use the images to communicate properly the status of health or disease. These images are created and saved as part of a paper reduced digital chart using hardware such as the Schick Camera.

Katherine Heigl Undergoes Beauty Transformation

Heigl wears an Invisalign retainer, which she removes in the interview before eating. "I got them because of this wonky tooth," she says. "It's awesome because every two weeks you switch to a new retainer. Pretty much the perfect way to describe Invisalign is Netflix for your teeth."
For a complimentary INVISALIGN consultation
Call 310-836-6161

Smile Makeovers Sweeping the Country

Whitening, veneers, bonding, implants – cosmetic dentists have more options than ever to help patients achieve the smile of their dreams. And thanks to the blitz of reality television makeover programs, consumer awareness of cosmetic dentistry has reached an all-time high.

But it’s not just television that has prompted more people than ever to consider cosmetic dentistry. According to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentists (AACD), virtually all Americans (99.7 percent) believe a smile is an important asset, and three-quarters (74 percent) of adults feel an unattractive smile can hurt a person’s chances for career success. A whopping 96 percent of adults believe an attractive smile makes a person more appealing to the opposite sex.

With so many choices available to consumers to improve their smiles, it is important for patients to ask their dentist about his or her experience in performing cosmetic dental procedures. “Any patient considering a smile makeover should make sure their dentist has had advanced training in cosmetic dentistry,” says Nicholas Davis, AACD president.

As you consider a cosmetic dental procedure, be sure to ask for these items:

* Before and after photos – Examine the dentist’s treatment results on other patients to make sure his or her work fits your dental needs.

* References – Get a sense from other patients as to what type of quality care the dentist provides.

* Continuing education – Be certain that your dentist is an active AACD member and has taken continuing education courses to keep up-to-date with the latest techniques in clinical cosmetic dentistry.

Sampling Saliva for Breast Cancer at The Dentist's

University of Texas researchers believe that they have identified and created a test to detect protein markers within human saliva that point to increased possibility of having breast cancer. Considering people visit the dentist more frequently than their doctor, and that said dentist has ready access to your saliva, its quite possible that it will be the dentist performing routine breast cancer testing in the future.

NewSmiles By:Dr.Mostofi

People Rate Their Smiles Higher Than Dentists Do

People Rate Their Smiles Higher Than Dentists Do

ScienceDaily (2008-01-03) -- People rate their smiles higher than dentists do, according to a new study. Teeth and eyes rated as the most important features of an attractive face, the study also found, and people younger than age 50 were most satisfied with their smiles. ... > read full article

Healthy Smile May Promote A Healthy Heart

ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2008)
Each year, cardiovascular disease kills more Americans than cancer. And while most people are aware that lifestyle choices such as eating right, getting enough exercise and quitting smoking can help prevent cardiovascular disease, they may not know that by just brushing and flossing their teeth each day, they might also be avoiding this potentially lethal condition.

A new article suggests that periodontal patients whose bodies show evidence of a reaction to the bacteria associated with periodontitis may have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease."The article "Markers of systemic bacterial exposure in periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease risk" was published in the December issue of the Journal of Periodontology (JOP), the official publication of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP).
Adapted from materials provided by American Academy of Periodontology.