The Zoom!™ teeth whitening system.
Zoom!™ / Zoom2™ / Zoom! Advanced Power Plus™
The Zoom!™ product line is one of Discus Dental, Inc.'s entries in the professional teeth whitening products marketplace.
This is an all-inclusive whitening system (not all are). By this, we mean that the manufacturer supplies the dentist with all of the needed bleaching materials: the tooth whitener, the bleaching light, and even many of the disposable items that a dentist uses when performing whitening treatments.
Discus Dental, Inc. also manufactures the BriteSmile ® teeth whitening system.
What type of whitener is used?
The Zoom!™ whitening system uses a hydrogen peroxide-based tooth whitener. This product comes prepackaged as two individual components, a 32% hydrogen peroxide gel and a proprietary "activator." These two components are then mixed at the time of application to form a working gel that has a 25% concentration of hydrogen peroxide and a pH between 7.5 and 9.
The Zoom2™ system gives the dentist the opportunity to utilize either a 16 or 25% whitener. Zoom! Advanced Power Plus™ utilizes a 25% hydrogen peroxide whitener. (More about whiteners...)
Is a bleaching light used?
The Zoom!™ whitening system utilizes a mercury metal halide bleaching light. The light emitted has a wave length of 350-400nm, which means it has a violet color.
This unit has an infrared filter. This is important because filtering out infrared emissions helps to minimize the amount of heat the patient's teeth are subjected to during treatment. (Why this is important.)
When a Zoom!™ bleaching light is placed into position, it's capable of illuminating all of the teeth being treated (both upper and lower) at once. This means that the treatments will be a little less labor intense for your dentist. They won't have to keep moving the light around to treat individual groupings of teeth.
Of course, the whole idea associated with using a bleaching light is that the company believes that its light activates some aspect of the tooth whitener, which in turn, enhances its whitening effect.
(FYI: This type of claim may be considered to be controversial by some.)
Just out of curiosity, and for your own information, your dentist probably paid in excess of $1,500.00 for their Zoom!™ teeth whitening system bleaching light.
How long do treatments take?
Treatments with the Zoom!™ system usually take about 90 minutes from start to finish.
Each bleaching session is broken down into three individual applications of the whitener, with each application being left in place for 20 minutes. This means that the cumulative exposure of the patient's teeth to the whitening gel is 60 minutes. Pre- and post-treatment preparations and activities round the total treatment time up to about 90 minutes.
With the Zoom2™ and Zoom! Advanced Power Plus™ systems each whitening session is broken down into three 15 minute applications of whitener, for a cumulative exposure time of 45 minutes. Pre- and post-treatment preparations and activities round the total treatment time up to a little over 60 minutes.
Are at-home follow-up treatments recommended?
At the completion of a Zoom! whitening treatment, a tray-based teeth whitening product is given to the patient so they can continue on with the bleaching process at home. With the Zoom! Advanced Power Plus™ system, Discus' instructions include the recommendation that the patient perform at-home treatments both before and after their in-office whitening session.
(More about why this is done.)
The whitening procedure.
The procedure your dentist follows when performing Zoom!™ treatments does not vary greatly from those general steps we illustrate and describe on our pages. Note, however, as you read through our description, that the Zoom!™ whitening system does include the use of a paint-on dental dam, "activation" of the whitening gel with a bleaching light, post treatment application of fluoride (1.1% neutral sodium fluoride gel), and continued treatments with an at-home whitener.
