The webinar will provide a practical, patient-centred framework for safely managing whitening enquiries in patients who are initially dentally unfit
It will demonstrate how a structured assessment, oral hygiene optimisation, and realistic expectation setting lead to successful, predictable cosmetic outcomes including whitening and post whitening restorative colour matching.
It will provide:
- A clear, step by step clinical pathway for taking a whitening enquiry from initial assessment through stabilisation, OHI improvement, whitening delivery, and final restorative refinement
- A structured assessment checklist, including essential risk factors, shade recording, consent documentation, and photographic protocols to support safe cosmetic care
- Practical communication strategies for expectation setting, consent, and motivating patients to improve oral hygiene before aesthetics
- A repeatable whitening protocol, including patient selection, material choices, instructions, contraindications, sensitivity management, and follow up processes
- A straightforward workflow for replacing and shade matching anterior composite restorations post whitening to achieve predictable and natural looking outcomes.
Learning outcomes
- Describe the clinical challenges and risks associated with providing whitening for patients presenting with poor oral hygiene, active disease, or unrealistic expectations
- Conduct a structured assessment, including history, risk evaluation, extraoral and intraoral examination, shade recording, and essential baseline photography
- Differentiate between manual and electric toothbrushing efficacy and provide tailored oral hygiene instruction (OHI) to improve plaque control prior to cosmetic care
- Formulate an evidence based optimisation plan that prepares the mouth for safe whitening, including soft tissue considerations, sensitivity risk assessment, and ensuring patient compliance
- Explain the whitening workflow – from tray design to material selection, legal requirements, contraindications, and patient home use instructions
- Manage patient expectations by discussing achievable shade changes, treatment timelines, sensitivity, lifestyle factors, and limitations based on existing restorations
- Plan and deliver the replacement of anterior composite restorations following whitening to ensure accurate shade matching and a harmonious aesthetic result.
Dentistry Webinar - Live Webinar
21 April 12:00am, London UK
Tooth whitening: preparing dentally unfit patients for cosmetic success
Speaker: Dr. Ben Atkins
The speaker
Dr Ben Atkins is the president of the Oral Health Foundation and general dental practitioner. Prior to his current role, Ben has been a long-standing trustee for the charity. Ben also owned a group of dental practices in the north west of England. His main drive in-practice is education of his patients, this is demonstrated in the practice mission statement: ‘Our mission is for all our patients to understand their mouths, preventative regime and treatment.’
As a clinician, Ben is a former tutor at Manchester Dental Hospital and a dentist with specialist interest (DWSI) in restorative dentistry. His practices have a number of separate NHS contracts that cater for the oral health needs of the hard-to-reach groups as well as the general population within the current NHS Dental Pilot.
Ben encourages his staff to improve the oral health of hard-to-reach patients in the UK and overseas. He has provided a mobile dental surgery in Tanzania and three of his team have undertaken voluntary work in that surgery. His expertise away from the surgery includes: press and parliamentary representative for the British Dental Association; former healthcare commission adviser on dental complaints; co-optee of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) Public Health Advisory Committee; member of the periodontal steering group for the Department of Health (DoH), chairman of Salford Local Dental Committee (LDC), performance list panel member for NHS England; ambassador for Wrigley’s. Ben is a father of two, husband and beekeeper.
You can sign up for the webinar here.
Catch up with previous on-demand webinars:
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- Improving predictability in clear aligner therapy: evidence-based overview of FXClear versus leading systems
- AI‑SEO explained: what dentists actually need to do in 2026
- Essential aspects of occlusion for the general dental practitioner
- Achieving functional and aesthetic harmony in real-world clinical scenarios.
