Teeth Whitening Top 3

Common Questions About Tooth Whitening

Why do teeth have discolorations or stains?
Staining on teeth is the result of age, smoking, tea, coffee. Other types of stains are the direct results of antibiotics like tetracycline or too much fluoride intake.

What are the treatment methods for stained teeth?

For tooth whitening options, ask your dentist about the available products in the market. There are several over-the-counter (OTC) whitening products like toothpastes and whitening systems such as the newest laser tooth whitening. Tooth whitening experts agree that peroxide provides the maximum strength.
There are also whitening systems that are cater to busy people who have not time to visit their dentist. Supervised bleaching procedures can now be done while you’re at home or at the office. To speed up the process, a light or heat source is utilized. In some cases, the procedure starts at the dentist’s clinic and the patient continues it at the convenience of his home. The most popular though are the ones which you complete entirely at home.

Home whitening procedures, often called nightguard vital bleacing, involves custom-fitting a nightguard in your mouth filled with a bleaching solution which is usually a peroxide mixture. The potency of bleaching solutions vary in potency and the nightguard can be worn overnight or just for 1 hour. Ask your dentist for the correct bleaching solution for you and the amount of time your teeth needs to be treated. The time depends on the level of tooth discoloration or the whiteness you want to achieve.

How effective are the available whitening systems?

The available bleaching techniques are quite effective in removing or lightening the stains on the teeth caused by aging, smoking and drinking coffee or tea. Among patients who have undergone bleaching, 96% experienced lightening on their teeth as revealed by clinical studies. Other stains are more difficult to deal with such as the one produced by tetracycline and too much intake of fluoride. Also, when you bleach your teeth, the color of dentally restored ones (if you had one like a tooth-color filling) will remain the same.

What are the side effects of tooth bleaching?

People who did teeth bleaching reported that they experienced uncomfortable short-term side effects. Hydrogen peroxide causes teeth sensitivity especially if applied in large concentrations. Gum irritation was also experienced by those who used nightguard.

Wearing away of tooth enamel was also observed in those who over-used over-the-counter bleaching agents. Some of these products contain acid which deteriorates enamel. It is then advised that an oral health care professional should be consulted before using any whitening procedure.

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