Bleaching My Teeth at Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor
Every year and a half, I go to Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor in New York City for a teeth bleaching. I am very lucky that I already have my own very good natural teeth, but Dr. Lowenberg insists that I keep them white by this long procedure - he says it is much better than veneers.
I schedule such a procedure for the end of the day when I have no parties to attend. After bleaching, you cannot drink coffee, tea, red wine, or eat dark colored foods for five days. There is also a secondary procedure that includes bleaching trays that has to be followed at home for five more days after the office bleaching. The offices of Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor are extremely busy. They are famous for cosmetic dentistry and many well known people who grace the covers of magazines and television shows visit the doctors regularly. I have been going for 20-years since my daughter, Alexis, first introduced them to me.
Enjoy these selfies - that's right, I took every single one.
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- Here I am getting ready for the procedure of bleaching my teeth. First the teeth must be professionally “buffed” to remove any surface stains and tartar. I had just had my teeth cleaned a month ago so this was almost cursory.
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- The buffing material is like strong toothpaste and has a touch of “grit” or abrasive in it.
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- The dentists all wear “headlamps” similar to coal miners or night time mountaineers. The lights however are very concentrated and the magnifying eyeglasses give the dentists almost laser vision.
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- Next, a white rubberized “barrier” is applied to the gums to protect soft tissue from being burned by the bleach.
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- Every bit of soft tissue has to be covered.
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- Next, the mouth is forced open by a “medieval” type piece of equipment, exposing the upper and lower teeth and keeping the lips away from the work area.
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- A plastic bar keeps the jaws separated and allows the bleaching to begin.
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- The patient- me- looks very concerned and uncomfortable- all in the quest for whiter, brighter, cleaner teeth.
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- After the application of gelatinous bleach, a light is focused on the teeth to speed up the action of the bleach- just like the heat hairdressers use to speed up the bleaching of hair!
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- The fabric protects my skin. This is a better view of the “dam” of material protecting the gums. My teeth don’t look so dark and I am wondering why I am doing this!
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- I am very lucky to have such good, straight teeth- I thank my genes for this- no braces, no caps, no veneers!
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- The bleach is applied three times every 20-minutes, with rinses in between.
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- After each application of bleach- the ultraviolet light.
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- The office provides a foot reflexologist to massage one’s feet during long or painful procedures. She helps a lot!
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- There are also TV sets in each room for added distraction.
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- The masseuse is more relaxed than I.
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- Protective glasses must be worn while the light is on.
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- The glasses are painful, resting sharply on my cheeks.
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- My teeth do look whiter after two applications.
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- Dr. Kantor smiles nicely at me during his checkup between applications.
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- The assistant- dental technician- remains in the room the entire time.
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- I am weary of the entire thing!!!! This, after an entire day of taping two shows for “Martha Bakes”, Season 8!
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- Then, the last and final applcation of bleach.
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- The glasses have left big creases on my cheeks, and my jaws are so tired of being pried open- all I can think of is human torture.
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- The headlamp!!
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- Now all the gum protectors have to be pried off. They actually come off very easily. I congratulate the dentists and tecnicians at Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor for their fast, accurate and professional work. But no matter how quick, and how painless, and how “invasive” going to the dentist is, however necessary and important, it will never be on my bucket list of the 10 top things to do today!
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