{"id":409,"date":"2024-12-12T12:41:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/?p=409"},"modified":"2025-01-03T00:41:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T00:41:28","slug":"why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\/","title":{"rendered":"Smile Strength Comes First: Why to Treat Cavities Before Teeth Whitening"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052.jpg\" alt=\"A closeup of a tooth with a cavity\" class=\"wp-image-410\" style=\"width:334px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>As the winter holidays near, making your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/teeth-whitening.html\">teeth look bright<\/a> may seem more crucial than your oral health. It\u2019s a natural thought \u2013 you want family and friends to see your smile as pretty, not simply strong. However, the truth is that you really should treat any existing cavities before teeth whitening starts. Failing to do so would cause various dilemmas that interrupt your festive fun. To learn more, let your Allentown dentist explain the relevant details below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Context: The Teeth Whitening Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To know why cavity treatment should come first, you must first grasp how teeth whitening works. Anything less would mean you don\u2019t understand why one procedure should go before the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At its core, teeth whitening uses a special gel to remove smile stains. This gel\u2019s hydrogen peroxide seeps into and bleaches your enamel, brightening it by up to six or eight shades. That means treatment will leave you with a much whiter smile than you had before!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While some dental practices offer an in-office type, at-home kits are the more popular form of whitening today. They only require a patient to wear gel-infused trays for two hours daily over two weeks. That way, you can exercise flexibility in how you approach your treatment plan and enjoy a more convenient procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cavities &amp; Teeth Whitening Don\u2019t Mix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Teeth whitening tends to be one of the safer dental treatments, but not when cavities get involved. It often harms smiles suffering from severe tooth decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You see, the hydrogen peroxide in most whiteners can be pretty powerful. It\u2019s a chemical that can even irritate healthy teeth, let alone those that lose some (or most) of their enamel. This reality means exposing hydrogen peroxide to cavities causes severe pain in the relevant teeth. Even worse, doing so could permanently damage and ruin your smile, leading to further oral issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most patients would want to avoid such oral damage. With that said, please treat your cavities before you undergo any teeth whitening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a Local Dentist Can Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the points above, rest assured that dentists have various ways to treat cavities effectively. You can trust them to address your tooth decay before whitening starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, dentists usually have two ways to fix cavities: tooth-colored fillings and dental crowns. The former procedure \u201cfills\u201d the holes in your teeth with composite resin. On the other hand, the latter places a strong \u201ccrown\u201d on a tooth with an unfillable cavity. This ceramic cap protects the decayed area and hides it from view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your smile benefits more when you treat cavities before teeth whitening. So, get treatment in the proper order with your local dental provider!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/meet-the-doctor.html\">Dr. Bradford G. Young<\/a> is an experienced dentist based in Allentown, PA, having earned his DMD from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School. His decades in the dental field have made him an expert in preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency oral work. You can trust him and his team to help any patient\u2019s smile thrive for years! Today, Dr. Young practices at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/\">his self-titled clinic<\/a> and is reachable on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/contact-us.html\">his website<\/a> and by phone at <strong>(610)-439-1363<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the winter holidays near, making your teeth look bright may seem more crucial than your oral health. It\u2019s a natural thought \u2013 you want family and friends to see your smile as pretty, not simply strong. However, the truth is that you really should treat any existing cavities before teeth whitening starts. Failing to do so would cause various dilemmas that interrupt your festive fun. To learn more, let your Allentown dentist explain the [&hellip;] <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\/\">(Read More)<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why to Treat Cavities Before Teeth Whitening | Dr. Bradford Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To ensure you get the best dental care, you should treat cavities before teeth whitening starts. Find out why with your Allentown dentist.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why to Treat Cavities Before Teeth Whitening | Dr. Bradford Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To ensure you get the best dental care, you should treat cavities before teeth whitening starts. Find out why with your Allentown dentist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bradford Young Family &amp; Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T12:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-03T00:41:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bgyoungdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dryoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dryoung\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dryoung\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aa49451fd3e6bf436f646c5f71cf8824\"},\"headline\":\"Smile Strength Comes First: Why to Treat Cavities Before Teeth Whitening\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-12T12:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-03T00:41:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":542,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why to Treat Cavities Before Teeth Whitening | Dr. Bradford Young\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/why-to-treat-cavities-before-teeth-whitening\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/AdobeStock_189971322__4___1735862935_78052.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-12T12:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-03T00:41:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bgyoungdental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aa49451fd3e6bf436f646c5f71cf8824\"},\"description\":\"To ensure you get the best dental care, you should treat cavities before teeth whitening starts. 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