Does peroxide whiten teeth, Teeth whitening side effects

The Facts:

You may not know where to begin and you may also have a lot of questions. You will find that the teeth whitening industry is full of products, procedures and claims. From professional dental whitening systems to products like the highly advertised whitening strips and simple brush-ons, consumers should educate themselves about which products are effective and which ones are not.

Tooth whitening either at-home or in-office (chair-side) treatments, are designed to lighten dark stained teeth. The application of oxygenating or peroxide type products using one of several techniques is the professionally accepted norm. While these materials are widely used and appear safe, side effects can occur. Tooth sensitivity or tingling is the most common side effect. Gum and lip irritation can also occur. If a person experiences these or other side effects they should stop whitening and consult a whitening professional.

Your enamel and tooth structure is as unique to you as your fingerprint or DNA so people should understand that the amount of whitening and its duration does vary from person to person. While the majority of people's teeth lighten to the extent desired, some may not. In some instances whitening is minimal or unapparent. Additional whitening over time may be required to achieve your natural teeth lightness.

Time Frames for Dental Whitening:

The best way to whiten your teeth is gradually. Don't knock yourself out by wearing your whitening trays for hours at a time and trying to force your whitening process too quickly. It is better to work the whitening process into your daily or weekly routine for 15 to 30 minutes per day until you achieve your desired level of whitening. It took many years to build up the staining on your teeth. It's perfectly alright to take a week or two to remove the staining. You will not loose any whitening effect by waiting a day or two between treatments.

Time and Place for Whitening:

A great place to whiten your teeth is in the shower or bath. Just keep your whitening system in the shower and use it as a routine part of your morning or evening hygiene. The shower is a great place to use your dental whitening system because you can easily discard any extra whitening gel and saliva that squeezes out of your trays without running over to the sink. Also, you are busy with your other showering activities so you don't really notice the trays in your mouth. When you are finished with your showering, you can remove the trays from your mouth, rinse them out and leave them in the shower ready for your next treatment.

Upper vs. Lower Teeth:

You don't need to whiten your upper arch (teeth) and your lower arch at the same time, although you can if you wish. You may find it easier to manage the whitening process for one set of teeth at a time. As this is an excellent way to show the effectiveness of your dental whitening process. We recommend whitening your upper teeth for 5 to 10 sessions and notice the color and shade difference between your upper and lower teeth. Upon reaching your desired level of whiteness for your upper teeth it will be time to switch and do the same to your lower teeth.

Length of Time for Each Whitening Session:

The carbamide peroxide whitening gel can be effective for up to two hours. We recommend using your dental whitening system for 15 minutes to one hour maximum per session. Keep in mind that the lower the carbamide peroxide concentration (eg. 16% CP) the longer your ware-time can be without experiencing any tooth or gum sensitivity but your cumulative ware-time will be greatly extended. As an example, if you were to use a carbamide peroxide concentration of 35% to whiten your teeth and your sessions ware-time is 30 minutes, you may have to increase your ware-time to two hours if you used 16% CP whitening gel to achieve the same degree of effectiveness.

Tooth or Gum Sensitivities:

If your teeth or gums are exceptionally sensitive to dental whitening gel, do not be alarmed. This is a normal reaction that means the dental whitening formula is working. Any sensitivity will most likely diminish as you continue with your number of whitening sessions. Our whitening gel formulas do not contain any desensitizing agents. We highly recommend that, what ever concentration of carbamide peroxide you choose to use to whiten your teeth that you start with a 15 minute ware-time and if you don't experience any sensitivity then increase the ware-time in 15 minute increments to a maximum of one hour. If you do experience any tooth sensitivity, you have a choice of reducing the ware-time per session, lowering the carbamide peroxide concentration you are using or change your whitening sessions from daily to every second or third day to give your teeth time to rest between whitening sessions. If any of these recommendations do not seem to alleviate the problem we would suggest using a Desensitizing Gel. It is also recommended to use a Remineralization Gel after a whitening session as this will also give relieve to sensitive teeth.

Excessive Salivation:

Some people experience excessive salivation when using a dental whitening system. This is a normal reaction that will gradually disappear as your mouth becomes accustom to the whitening process. The best thing to do for this reaction is to conduct your whitening session in a place where you can discard the saliva accumulating in you mouth.

Swallowing Dental Whitening Gel:

Every time you use your dental whitening system you will inevitably swallow a small amount of whitening gel. This is normal and except for the taste, there are no hazards or health problems but it would be best to try and not swallow any whitening gel. Please keep the whitening gel out of reach of children.

Brushing Your Teeth:

It is advantageous to gently brush your teeth in conjunction with using your dental whitening system. It is good to gently brush your teeth immediately before each whitening session to remove any food particles from your teeth so that the whitening gel can contact the hardened staining material on your teeth instead of the softer food particles that may adhere to your teeth on a daily basis.

Flossing Your Teeth:

It certainly helps the whitening process to floss your teeth as part of your daily oral health regime but do not floss your teeth immediately before each whitening session. Flossing sometimes irritates the gums between your teeth. For sensitive individuals, it is not a good idea to apply whitening gel to an area that has just been irritated by flossing. Please do your flossing on a regular basis but not immediately before a whitening session.

A Dental Office Cleaning:

A dental office visit for a cleaning and polishing will certainly help the whitening process but you should wait for two or three days after your dental visit to begin using your dental whitening system. This gives your teeth and gums time to recover and heal from the cleaning and scaling as the whitening gel may cause sensitivity to your irritated gums.

The Active Ingredient:

The main ingredient responsible for the whitening process is the peroxide. Most dentists use the same whitening agent that is used by reputable at-home teeth whitening systems.

Teeth whitening gel is a function of two factors;

(1) Strength: Concentration of the peroxide in the whitening gel.

(2) Time: The amount of time the gel is in contact with the surface of the teeth.

Considering the above, you can see that to produce the same degree of teeth whitening, a treatment employs either a low concentration of whitener for an extended period of time (at-home whitening) or a higher concentration of peroxide for a shorter period of time (chair-side whitening). Both methods used will achieve the same end result.

There are a few issues to consider before making a choice between the at-home whitening or the dental chair-side process.

(1) Discomfort. The higher the peroxide concentration (chair-side whitening) the higher the discomfort (pain) level you may experience as this is the most common teeth bleaching side effects.

(2) Cost. Dental office, chair-side treatments range in price from $500.00 to $1,500.00 US per session.

The at-home teeth whitening gel is formulated at a lower concentration and involves multiple applications. The end result is the same but the cost is significantly less. Usually at-home kits are under $150.00 US each.

Which process is best? The two methods achieve the same end results. In the end it is a time / budget consideration. Neither option is better than the other but given the facts of cost and discomfort most people go with the at-home systems.

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Get the Facts ~ Be Informed:

At White Smiles Superstore we strive to bring you the best teeth whitening facts and information available. Taking the step to improve your smile is a courageous one and you may have questions about the process. Here you will find the answers such as; does peroxide whiten teeth, teeth whitening side effects, teeth whitening problems, teeth whitening safety.

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