A Few Secrets About Teeth Whitening
by: Dr. Harold Katz
Within the last 10 years the field of teeth whitening, both in the dental
office and at home, has changed immensely. Essentially, there are two different
methods to get whiter teeth: dental (in-office) whitening, and an at home
treatment. Discover a few secrets about teeth whitening that your dentist hopes
I'll never tell you!
Method #1: Dental (In-Office) Teeth Whitening
I can tell you from first-hand experience, dentists LOVE the patient who
wants to have a teeth whitening procedure in the dental office. Back in the
early '90's there was only one option available.
Your dentist would make molds of your teeth, send them off to a lab, and in
5-10 days receive back your custom fitted teeth whitening mouthpiece. Then you
would sit in the dental chair for 1-2 hours, with these plastic teeth whitening
molds filled with peroxide (at a very low concentration) pressed against your
teeth and gums.
After 3-4 visits, your teeth would be officially declared whiter (and usually
they were), and you would be sent home with a nice $500 - $1,000 bill to pay.
And with whiter teeth of course.
I'll be the first to admit, dental office teeth whitening has come a long way
in the past 10 years. Now the most popular teeth whitening dental office
procedure known as Laser Bleaching (or Power Bleaching, Argon Bleaching, etc.)
is a shorter process. Basically this teeth whitening procedure consists of the
application of a concentrated peroxide gel onto your teeth, then for the next
hour you sit in a dental chair with your mouth wide open, while a special light
(usually argon) is shined onto the teeth whitening paste that in turn chemically
reacts with the peroxide to complete the teeth whitening process in as short a
time period as possible.
This teeth whitening procedure does work. Although, many dentists say that
you get a whiter smile by repeated tray applications because the teeth whitening
peroxide stays in contact with your teeth for longer periods of time. The
downside is that you still get stuck with that fat $500 - $1,000 bill (at least
for the good teeth whitening procedure).And you still need to either come back 6
months later for another teeth whitening (excuse me - a touch up!), or you're
given some take home whitening items. Why then did you spend $500 - $1,000
dollars for an in-office teeth whitening procedure?
Fortunately, as most other things in life, technology stepped in to make
teeth whitening easier and more affordable!
Method #2: Home Teeth Whitening
I'll say this once just to get it out in the open, it's now possible (in
almost all cases) to achieve "dental office" quality teeth whitening, from the
comfort of your own home! "At-Home" teeth whitening has taken a bite out of
(sorry for the pun) the "in-office" power bleaching systems, where millions of
corporate advertising dollars now compete with the comfort of teeth whitening at
home.
And rightly so...
Up until a few years ago, teeth whitening was a fairly complex process. The
hard part was making those fitted mouthpieces for each patient, for this reason
alone, home teeth whitening was not an option for most people.
Essentially, there are 3 different home teeth whitening options available
Teeth Whitenting Option #1 - Brush-On Whitening
Brush-on teeth whitening in principal is a great concept, just brush on the
formula, allow it to dry on your teeth, and let is stay on your teeth overnight.
Sounds simple, right?
In reality, brush-on teeth whitening is designed for the segment of the
public that is in love with shortcuts (in other words, for those people who
don't want to spend the time to do it right the first time). Brush-on teeth
whitening has TWO MAIN FLAWS:
- When you brush on the teeth whitening formula, it relies on the premise
that it will dry on your teeth. This is great in principle, but if you get the
teeth whitening formula wet (i.e. from saliva or from licking your teeth) then
it becomes REALLY easy to rub off parts of the formula. And guess what happens
if you rub off only part of the teeth whitening formula? You got it - you
don't get an even whitening result! It turns out patchy and blotchy.
- The second flaw with most brush-on teeth whitening as I see it, is the
ingredients. If you look at the ingredient list of the leading brush-on
whitener, you'll see the first ingredient is alcohol. If you've read my ebook
"The Bad Breath Bible" (http://www.TheraBreath.com/web/art/l/badbreath.asp)
then you already know that alcohol is terrible for your breath! Actually, I'm
sure the reason why they've added alcohol to their teeth whitening formula is
because it's needed as a desiccant (something that dries out the formula so
that it supposedly stays on your teeth at night). However, that still doesn't
diminish the effect it can have on your gums and your breath. Also, most of
these brush-on teeth whitening formulas contain glycerin which literally sucks
the moisture out from the enamel of your teeth and it's the primary cause of
most tooth sensitivity from teeth whitening.
Teeth Whitening Option #2 - Strips You Stick On Your Teeth
The second most common type of home teeth whitening is using whitening
strips. The main lure of this home teeth whitening option is the strips'
simplicity of use, they're easy to apply and no preparation is necessary. Again,
everybody loves shortcuts, right? Unfortunately, once again that's exactly the
type of teeth whitening you end up getting! Let me explain...
Strips that stick on your teeth usually consist of an upper strip and a lower
strip each pressed against the outer surface of your teeth. Now think about this
for a second...Are your teeth completely flat? Of course not - they have
recesses and grooves, particularly between each tooth. Well imagine you're
painting a fence, and you just slapped paint on the outside, without taking the
time to paint in the grooves between each wooden board. That fence would look
pretty funny wouldn't it? Nicely painted on the outside, but in the grooves
between each wooden board, still dark and dingy, with all of the old paint
showing.
When you use teeth whitening strips, the same thing can easily happen to your
teeth if you're not careful. The whiter your teeth become, the more pronounced
those dingy cracks seem! Eventually it can end up looking like you have small
gaps between your teeth. Definitely not the desired result!
Teeth Whitening Option #3 - Trays With Bleaching Gels
Trays with bleaching gels still provide the best combination of the most
affordable and most efficient teeth whitening available. Since I'm a dentist, I
can let you in on a few little secrets (some secrets which most dentists would
shoot me for telling you since it costs them thousands in lost income)!
First, most of the teeth whitening gels available at your dentist are exactly
the same. There is very little difference from one dentist to another, that's
because the gels are formulated by a small number of manufacturers.
Second, most of the teeth whitening gels available at retail stores are of
very poor quality. They've been sitting in a warehouse or on a truck for who
knows how long, and because they are designed to be "low cost" they have very
low concentrations of active ingredients. Older teeth whitening gels use a
concentration of only 16% of carbamide peroxide.
Third, the one thing in common between dental office and "store" teeth
whitening gels is that they both use glycerin as a carrying agent. Now there is
nothing wrong with glycerin by itself. It is not dangerous in any way. However,
when mixed with carbamide peroxide, the glycerin is used to draw water out of
the enamel in order to speed up the whitening process. This is what causes the
most common side effect of teeth whitening - sensitive teeth! Therefore, you're
going to want to find a teeth whitening product that does not use a glycerin
base.
Armed With This New Teeth Whitening Knowledge, Now What Should You Do?
There are four key components I recommend for making sure you get the best
possible teeth whitening results every time.
- Immediately before whitening, brush your teeth for two minutes with an
oxygenating toothpaste combined with the finest natural polishing agents AND
aloe vera to strengthen your gums and prevent any sensitivity. This way you're
sure that the whitening gel directly contacts your tooth enamel (instead of
dental plaque).
- Use form-fitting mouth trays that are fitted to your specific bite. Make
sure they fit snugly around each tooth, and at all points they press firmly
around the sides of your teeth and gums. The best home teeth whitening systems
use a moldable tray system that contains mouthpieces which you can actually
fit to your mouth. You mold them by soaking them for a few seconds in warm
water, then you press the plastic up (or down) against your teeth and gums.
When the plastic cools you have a nice soft plastic mouthpiece that is fitted
to the curves of your particular smile.
- You should use as strong of teeth whitening gel as possible to ensure that
the time your teeth are in contact with the whitening gel is well spent. Use a
21% carbamide peroxide concentrated teeth whitening gel that is formulated
specifically to reduce the sensitivity to your teeth and gums, (in other words
- NO glycerin!). This percentage of concentration also means a whiter result
in a shorter period of time. Finally, a flavored teeth whitening gel helps -
why not make the experience as pleasant as possible? No need for it to taste
bad!
- Immediately after your teeth whitening treatment, enhance the effect by
using an oxygenating oral rinse. Remember, make sure not to use a mouthwash
that contains alcohol, as this can actually chemically curtail the bleaching
effect, not to mention it dries your mouth out!
I recommend following this teeth whitening system for 5 days in a row. You
can even do the top and bottom arch separately for comfort if you prefer. After
that...you'll have a noticeably whiter smile - GUARANTEED!
About The Author
Dr. Harold Katz, founder of the California Breath Clinics, is the leading
expert on the topics of bad breath and teeth whitening. For your FREE 4 page,
color guide to teeth whitening visit:
http://www.TheraBreath.com/web/art/l/teethwhitening.asp
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