Brief Guide to Teeth Whitening and Methods

Teeth whitening is a process used to help remove dental stains and discoloration. The practice of administering professional treatments in this area is classified as cosmetic dentistry. It mainly focuses on how the teeth look on the outside versus what value it would have in preventing cavities and stopping tooth decay.

How it’s done?

Usually some sort of bleaching procedure is used. A higher concentration of peroxide or chloride might be used in a dentist’s office. At home varying concentrations of either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide would be used.

Usually solutions used for dental bleaching would be applied via strip, brush, syringe, or tray. The objective is to just make contact with the teeth and not the gums.

Safety Issues

Usually there are no major problems with using teeth whitening procedures on persons with healthy teeth and gums. However, even those who have a healthy stature could experience minor redness, burning, or irritation. Users should be careful to only apply to the teeth and not to any other part of the mouth for this reason.

Another matter involves the effect on tooth enamel. Some solutions may strip away this natural protection causing greater sensitivity to very hot and very cold beverages.

An additional issue that should be addressed is when people accidentally swallow solutions used for dental brightening. It is potentially dangerous, especially for children, to swallow the active ingredient, peroxide - the chemical which is the active ingredient of most at home solutions.

Further safety issues involve using methods that contain some form of chlorine. This can also strip away at the tooth enamel and can even be more harmful when swallowed. It is not even recommended to use these at all.

Generally, there is a major concern as well about the strength of peroxide used in home solutions. The same applies to use of non-dentist staff in regards to application of certain higher-concentration solutions (greater than about 25% to 30% carbamide peroxide).

Precautions

Your gums and lips should be covered before attempting to whiten teeth. The dentist would do this for you if you were having this procedure performed professionally. Otherwise, you would have to follow instructions on how to do this yourself. Further guidance is usually provided in home solution product packaging.

If you choose to do this procedure yourself, you should also make sure you do not leave the solution on your teeth for longer than suggested. This in fact is the best way to prevent your lips and gums (and even the inside of your cheeks) from being burned.