A single in-office Zoom visit with Dr. Nelly Silva, a graduate of the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, with your gums and existing dental work checked before any gel goes on.
Each pair below is one of our own patients, photographed before whitening and again afterward. Where a shade tab sits beside the teeth, it measures the starting and finishing color against the same reference, so you can see how far the shade moved.
Zoom is the Philips in-office whitening system. After your lips and gums are covered, a hydrogen peroxide gel is painted onto the front surfaces of your teeth and the Zoom light is set over your smile to speed the gel's work. The peroxide breaks apart the stain molecules held inside the enamel, so the tooth itself lightens rather than only its outer surface.
The gel goes on in timed rounds. Between rounds our team removes it, checks your comfort and applies fresh gel. Because a dental team watches every step, the gel can be stronger than any kit sold for home use.
Zoom is one of two professional systems in our office. Patients with deep or banded staining can ask about KöR, which we plan around tougher stains.
What caused the color decides how well whitening gel can reach it. This is how we usually match common situations to Zoom or KöR before we set a shade goal with you.
Have a date in mind? Leave time for your exam and any cleaning before the whitening visit, so the new shade is ready when you need it.
The Zoom treatment is one appointment. These are the steps around it, from the first look at your teeth to your first days at home.
Dr. Silva checks your teeth, gums and existing work and records your starting shade with a shade guide.
A retractor holds your lips and cheeks back, and a protective barrier is placed along the gumline.
The gel goes on, the light is set over your smile, and timed rounds begin with fresh gel each round.
We remove the gel and hold the shade guide up again, so you see the change against your starting color.
Fresh enamel picks up color easily. Go easy on coffee, tea, red wine and tobacco for the first day or two.
Dr. Silva earned her DMD at Temple University's Kornberg School of Dentistry, where she now teaches as a Clinical Associate Professor. She is a graduate of the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, a postgraduate center for aesthetic and neuromuscular dentistry.
She plans whitening as part of your whole smile. Your gums, existing crowns and fillings, and any cosmetic work still to come all shape the shade she recommends. She invites patients to call her Nelly.
These lines come from patients' own Google reviews of our office.
★★★★★"They took great care of my teeth: the X-rays, cleaning, and whitening. Dr Silva is just AMAZING. She cares about you, along with your health."
Liz, Google Review
★★★★★"I've been so scared but her team made me feel so welcome."
Gladys T., Google Review
Pottstown patients usually reach our Arcola Road office in Collegeville by way of Route 422. Zoom is finished in a single whitening appointment, so the drive is one trip for the treatment itself.
Cleanings, fillings and gum care all happen under the same roof, so anything that should come before whitening is handled here rather than at a second office.
Advanced Dentistry of Collegeville399 Arcola Road, Collegeville, PA 19426
We quote Zoom after your exam, once we know whether a cleaning or other care should come first and which system suits your stains. You will know the cost of your plan before treatment starts.
Answers to what patients ask us before they whiten.
Longer contact does not give a whiter result. In our office the Zoom gel goes on in timed rounds and our team removes it, so it never stays on longer than planned. If you use any whitening product at home, keep to the wear time you were given and ask us before changing it.
It depends on what caused the color. Zoom gives the fastest change for stains from coffee, tea, red wine and gradual yellowing, because the whole treatment happens in one visit. Deep gray or banded staining, such as tetracycline staining, usually responds better to KöR, the second system we offer. Your exam tells us which one fits.
How long your new shade holds depends on your habits. Coffee, tea, red wine and tobacco bring color back sooner, while regular cleanings help keep it. Whitening is not permanent, so we talk about touch-up options once you see your result.
No. Crowns, veneers, bonding and fillings keep the shade they were made in. When new front-tooth work is planned, we whiten first so the new restoration can be matched to your brighter shade.
Dr. Silva offers Invisalign, so we can plan both treatments together. We usually time whitening for when your teeth have reached their final position, so the shade is set on the smile you will keep.
Every whitening plan starts with an exam. If your teeth and gums are healthy, the Zoom visit itself is a single appointment. When a cleaning or gum care should come first, we plan the order of visits with you so you make as few trips as possible.
Your first visit is an exam and a reading of your current shade. You will leave knowing whether Zoom or KöR suits your teeth, which shade is realistic and what your plan costs.
