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Have Your Teeth
Professionally Bleached
There are many teeth bleaching
claims floating around. If you want to have your teeth their whitest, and if
you can afford to pay the professional fee, that is the best way to go.
The most common professional bleaching
technique is the at-home professionally-supervised tray system. The
cosmetic dentist makes a clear splint or tray that snaps onto your teeth.
You place a bleaching gel in this tray and wear it for a period of time each
day, or overnight. Over a period of days, your teeth become whiter.
A more expensive professional bleaching
technique is to have the bleaching gel administered in the office, under a
powerful light. For maximum whiteness, you should either repeat this
treatment several times or take a splint home with you and follow
up with professionally-supervised at-home bleaching.
Understanding how teeth bleaching
works
The enamel on your teeth is fairly translucent. The color of
your teeth comes from the dentin of the teeth—the
inside of your teeth. To whiten your teeth, therefore, the bleach has to
penetrate through the enamel and get to the dentin. It follows logically,
then, that a toothpaste or a rinse isn't going to whiten your teeth. The
most a toothpaste can do is remove surface stains and let the natural color
of your teeth show through. If you want that natural color to be whiter, you
have to have a treatment where the teeth bleach will penetrate the
enamel. To do that, it has to be on the teeth for a minimum of twenty
minutes.
The most effective teeth bleaching
treatment
The most effective whitening is going to occur with the most powerful
whitening agent that is on your teeth the longest. This is going to happen
when you use the little trays that you take home and you can wear it for
hours. In office power bleaching, such as with Brite Smile or Zoom, is also
very effective because it allows for a twenty- to thirty-minute tooth
contact with the whitening gel.
Do-it-yourself techniques
When you buy an over-the-counter product, you are weakening the treatment in
two ways:
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Over-the-counter products, in
order to be safe, have to use a weaker whitening agent |
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With over-the-counter products, there
is no custom-fitted tray to hold the teeth bleach to your teeth. |
Whitening strips are the most effective
do-it-yourself bleaching technique, because the bleaching agent is embedded
in the strip which lays on your front teeth for a period of time. But the
agent in these strips is weaker than what you'll get in the dental
office, it only covers six teeth, while your full smile is usually eight or
ten teeth, and it's effect is diluted by saliva. But they will whiten your
teeth somewhat.
Advantages of a professionally-supervised bleaching technique:
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Because of the prolonged contact every
day with the gel, you get the most profound, long-lasting
whitening effect. |
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Professional supervision allows for the maximum safety. If
you do it yourself, you can risk irritating your teeth or gums. |
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You should start whitening with a dental checkup anyway, to
find out if you have fillings or bonding on any teeth that will interfere
with the bleaching and produce an unsightly result. |
Disadvantages of professionally-supervised bleaching techniques:
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It's more expensive. |
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