The Lies About Teeth Whitening
Little White Lie #1
The Lie: The best way to get whiter teeth is to use whitening toothpastes.
The Truth: Obviously, you should brush your teeth. You can even use whitening toothpaste if you like; however, you’ll be disappointed if you expect these products to be able to whiten your teeth on their own. While brushing is essential to maintaining dental health and hygiene, it won’t whiten your teeth even if you do use one of the many whitening toothpastes on the market for one very simple reason. The whitening agents used in these whitening toothpastes simply aren’t in contact with your teeth long enough to really produce any kind of noticeable results.
Your saliva tends to wash off the whitening agents from your teeth, which means that the whitening agents spend only a minimal amount of time in contact with your teeth. It also needs to be noted that the whitening agents in these toothpastes are generally present in extremely low quantities to prevent them from causing irritation. While whitening toothpaste is a great idea on paper, the reality isn’t as wonderful as we’d all like to think.
Little White Lie #2
The Lie: If you want your teeth whitened, the best course of action is to see your dentist.
The Truth: Yes, it is true that your dentist can help you to get whiter teeth. However, you don’t have to go to your dentist to get the same effect. The whitening agent which your dentist uses is almost invariably either Carbamide Peroxide or Hydrogen Peroxide: the same whitening agents used in do-it-yourself tooth whitening systems.
The degree to which any tooth whitening procedure is effective is dependent on how concentrated the whitening gel is and the amount of time that the gel spends in contact with the surface of the teeth.
What does this mean? It’s simple – you can use a high concentration whitening solution for a short period of time as your dentist would, or a lower concentration product for a longer duration; the approach used with do it yourself teeth whiteners.
There is one significant difference between at home whitening and a whitening procedure which your dentist performs in his or her office however: price. The cost of doing it yourself is one fourth to one eighth of the price of having your dentist whiten your teeth.
Little White Lie #3
The Lie: Every tooth whitening product works equally well.
The Truth: It is decidedly not the case that all tooth whitening products are created equal. There are some products which work quite well, while others don’t really work at all.
The difference generally comes down to the ingredients used in the product. Different whitening gels differ in their concentration of active ingredients – and thus in the degree to which they are effective. Before making a purchase, you should look at the different products; some are made for specific types and levels of staining.
Little White Lie #4
The Lie: Bleaching your teeth damages the teeth and the gums.
The Truth: There is no risk of damage to your teeth or gums from using tooth whiteners. The whitening gel is applied directly to your teeth, where the whitening agents oxidize the organic deposits which cause staining. While it doesn’t cause any damage to your teeth or gums, it is possible to have some sensitivity in your teeth following the procedure; however, this is only a temporary effect. You can reduce this sensitivity by reducing the amount of time that the whitening gel is in contact with the surface of your teeth.
It’s possible that these whitening agents can irritate the gums, but this is typically due to poorly fitting whitening trays that cause the gums to come in contact with the whitening product. For this reason, it is highly recommended to use at home whitening systems that use custom whitening trays.
Little White Lie #5
The Lie: Using whitening strips is the best way to get whiter teeth.
The Truth: Our teeth are as unique as we are. This means that it’s impossible to design a whitening strip which can actually maintain contact with the entire surface of our teeth. Even in a best case scenario, these strips can only help whiten the front surface of your teeth, with grooves in the teeth and the gaps between your teeth left unaffected by the whitening strip. What these strips cause is uneven tooth whitening, leaving a striped appearance, with stains apparent on the parts of the teeth which they don’t cover. Many consider this to actually be worse than the original problem!
Little White Lie #6
The Lie: Thermoform trays are cheaper and work just as well as custom whitening tray.
The Truth: In reality, you do need a custom whitening tray to get the best results. You wouldn’t assume that someone else’s dentures would fit you properly, would you? A custom tray properly fits your teeth, unlike a whitening strip or a thermoform tray, which leaves unattractive stripes of staining and discoloration where they don’t completely stay in contact with your teeth. A custom tray can also prevent gum irritation by keeping the whitening gel from leaking out of the tray – providing more efficient whitening and less potential for irritation.
Little White Lie #7
The Lie: Paint on style tooth whiteners are the best way to go since they’re the easiest kind to use.
The Truth: The paint-on whiteners are definitely easy to use, but unfortunately they’re not effective. They have the same fatal flaw as whitening toothpastes. Your saliva washes away the whitening agents, meaning that the whiteners aren’t left in contact with the surface of your teeth for a long enough time to do much, if anything to whiten them. The whitening agents in these products is also present in a very low concentration so as to prevent irritation – so even if they did spend more time in contact with your teeth, they are of very little use. At best, these paint on tooth whitening products leave you with very limited whitening results and have an uneven, unnatural look.
Other paint on tooth whiteners are basically whitewash for the teeth and do nothing to actually remove stains and discoloration.
Little White Lie #8
The Lie: Teeth whitening systems which use electroluminescence in conjunction with a whitening gel work better than systems which only use a gel because of the high-tech light technology activating the ingredients of the gel
The Truth: As it happens, these products are neither new and high tech nor are they effective. Electroluminescence may look impressive, but it’s the same technology used in many children’s toys and to provide back lighting for cell phones. The electroluminescence definitely looks cool, but does nothing to make the whitening agents work better – it is a marketing ploy and nothing but.
Little White Lie #9
The Lie: Tooth bleaching produces the same results for everybody.
The Truth: Everyone’s teeth are different and so are the stains which they have. Some stains are more difficult to remove than others with bleaching. Yellowish stains are the easiest to bleach, with brownish stains being somewhat more difficult and grayish stains being more difficult still.
Little White Lie #10
The Lie: Swallowing tooth whitening solutions causes internal injury.
The Truth: There is about a 100% chance that you’ll swallow at least a little bit of tooth whitening gel regardless of which tooth whitening system you choose. It’s not harmful, though it does have an odd taste.
Before you purchase any teeth whitening items online please make sure you visit Teeth Whitening for further important health and purchase information.Also see more information about teeth whitening at home. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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