The Express treatment
A second protocol, a different appliance, and one step that moves to the front.
What you will learn
- Where the Express Kit differs from the Advanced Kit
- Why the vitamin E goes on before the appliance and not after
- The consultation check that matters more here than anywhere
The Express Kit, start to finish.
What is different
With the Advanced Kit you paint the gel on tooth by tooth and run the light three times for 15 minutes. With the Express Kit the gel is already in a pre filled appliance, the client bites into it, and the light runs once for 30 minutes.
- Who applies the gel
- You do, with the Advanced Kit. The appliance does, with the Express Kit.
- Time under the light
- 3 rounds of 15 minutes, against a single 30 minute run.
- Cheek retractor
- Advanced Kit only. The Express appliance holds the mouth itself.
- Vitamin E
- After the treatment with the Advanced Kit. Before the appliance goes in with the Express Kit.
- The gel
- 16% hydrogen peroxide in the Advanced pen. 36% carbamide peroxide in the Express appliance, which by the 3 to 1 rule is roughly 12% hydrogen peroxide, so it is the gentler of the two and it runs for longer.
Why the consultation matters more here
You are not placing the gel, so you cannot keep it off anything. It sits in the appliance and it will go where the appliance goes. If the client has enamel erosion or gum recession, the gel can spread onto tissue that should never have met it.
Check for erosion and recession before you reach for an Express Kit. With the Advanced Kit you can work around a difficult mouth. With this one you cannot.
The steps
- Consent form read and signed, and the consultation done properly.
- Starting shade with the shade guide, client holding a mirror, recorded in the chart.
- Bib on, glossy side facing the client, held with a bib clip. Recline the chair to a comfortable angle.
- Finger wipe, blue side, gently over the teeth to clear debris, plaque and saliva.
- Vitamin E on the gums, before anything goes in. Snap the swab at the red line, hold it upright, let the liquid run down, and have the client smile while you apply it around the teeth.
- Find the top and bottom of the appliance. Ask the client to open wide and insert it gently.
- Have them bite down softly until the teeth are in the gel, without it overflowing.
- Red glasses on. Light 1 to 2 inches from the mouth. Timer 30 minutes. Tell them to relax.
- Chair upright, appliance out and thrown away. Two cups, one with water, rinse and spit.
Finishing
Finish exactly as you would an Advanced treatment. Take the closing shade, record it, tell the client how many shades they moved, and go through the aftercare card with them rather than handing it over. The white diet and the one hour rule apply here in exactly the same way.