Regular brushing and flossing are simple strategies to maintain healthy, white, and brilliant teeth. Whiter teeth were the most often mentioned answer when the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry asked respondents what they’d want to change about their smile.
Are you considering teeth whitening? First, get the information from the following article.
What Changes your Teeth Colour?
Your teeth may gradually lose their luster over time for a variety of causes, including:
- Tobacco Use
Tar and nicotine, two substances included in tobacco, leave behind tenacious stains. Tar is inherently dark. Before it is combined with oxygen, nicotine is colorless. It then transforms into a material that stains surfaces and is yellow.
- Age
Your teeth have a softer layer called dentin underneath the enamel, the hard, white exterior covering. Brushing wears off the outer enamel layer over time, allowing more of the yellowish dentin to show through.
- Trauma
Your tooth may change color if you’ve been hit in the mouth because it responds to an injury to a darker layer underneath the enamel.
- Medications
An adverse effect of several antihistamines, antipsychotics, and high blood pressure drugs is tooth darkening. When teeth develop in young children exposed to medicines like tetracycline and doxycycline, either during pregnancy or as infants, the adult teeth may eventually become discolored. Additionally, head and neck radiation and chemotherapy might injure teeth.
How Does Whitening Your Teeth Work?
The procedure for teeth whitening is easy. One of two teeth bleaches is present in whitening products (hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide). These bleaches disperse stains, making them less concentrated and enhancing the brightness of your teeth.
What Bleaching Options Do I Have?
Consult your dentist before beginning and ask them to elaborate to you on how can whiten your teeth. There are four techniques to restore the luster to your smile if you’re a candidate:
- Start speaking with your dentist if you want techniques to whiten your teeth. They can point out any risks and assist you in locating the most excellent teeth-whitening procedure. For instance, treating dental decay or gum disease beforehand may be necessary to prevent tooth sensitivity and gum sensitivity during whitening. Healthy teeth will respond best to any whitening procedure.
- Additionally, the dentist can determine if the stains you want to remove are intrinsic or extrinsic. Extrinsic stains develop on the tooth’s surface and are typically susceptible to mechanical removal. Intrinsic stains, however, affect the feelings underneath the enamel. Bleaching, a chemical process that alters the tooth’s color, is necessary. The kind, extent, and quantity of treatments required to achieve the desired outcome depend on the stain category.
- Finally, standard procedures cannot be used to whiten restorations like veneers, crowns, implants, or fillings. To make these restorations or the neighboring teeth brighter, you must speak with your dentist.
Methods for Over-the-Counter Teeth Whitening
If whitening your teeth with over-the-counter (OTC) teeth whitening products in the convenience of your home seems intriguing, start there.
- Fluoride toothpaste
Mild abrasives are used in whitening toothpaste to scrape your teeth’s surface and remove external stains. Although specific recipes may contain hydrogen peroxide or baking soda, polishing is often used in place of bleaching to improve the look of the tooth. It can take longer to see results as a result.
TO USE: Use whitening instead of your usual toothpaste and brush your teeth twice daily for two minutes.
- Whitening Strips
Whitening strips use a flexible plastic strip to apply a tiny layer of a bleaching substance directly to teeth. The main component is often hydrogen peroxide. Even though strips are practical and affordable, if your teeth are not in proper alignment, they could be challenging to stick straight to the enamel.
HOW TO USE: Whitening strips are typically placed on the teeth and left on for 30 to 60 minutes. Observe the label’s instructions very carefully. Inappropriate usage can cause enamel erosion, gum inflammation, and dental sensitivity.
Teeth Whitening Options at Clinics:
Visit your dentist for further whitening alternatives if you want more immediate and striking results.
Zoom Teeth Whitening
It takes approximately an hour to finish this one compared to other teeth whitening processes. It is also safe since it uses peroxide gel and a zoom light to penetrate the tooth enamel deeply.
Laser teeth whitening:
A teeth whitening process in dentistry or cosmetic clinics is laser teeth whitening, often known as power whitening. The teeth are coated with a bleaching substance, and a gum protection device is put in the mouth. To activate the chemical’s bleaching agent and whiten teeth, a laser beam is directed at it. Usually, the procedure lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. The operation might need to be repeated for certain people once or twice.
Teeth Whitening Side Effects
Tooth sensitivity is a possibility for some persons who use teeth whitening products. This occurs when the peroxide in the bleaching agent penetrates the enamel to the delicate layer of dentin and irritates the tooth’s nerve. The sensitivity is often transient. Delaying therapy allows you to retry. Follow the instructions and consult your dentist before using tooth bleaching products excessively since this might harm the gums or tooth enamel.
