In-Office Teeth Whitening
Before deciding upon any type of dental treatment, even a cosmetic one, it’s important to carefully weigh your options. As you probably know, there are quite a few teeth whitening products that you can buy at your local drugstore or grocery store, as well as online. Let’s have a look at some of these products and how they compare to in-office teeth whitening from your local dentist.
How did we get here?
Over time, you may find that your teeth lose their original white color for reasons like:
Food and Beverages
One of the most common reasons for stained teeth is consuming beverages like tea, coffee and red wine. They contain pigments that can stain your tooth enamel.
Tobacco Products
The nicotine and tar found in tobacco leads to teeth staining. Although nicotine is normally colorless, when mixed with oxygen while smoking, it turns a yellow color and is notorious for discoloring teeth.
Age
The natural aging process can also lead to stained teeth. The reason for this is that the outer layer of your teeth (the white color) wears away over time, exposing the darker-colored dentin layer underneath.
Over-the-counter teeth whitening products are available in a variety of types, including:
- Trays
- Strips
- Whitening toothpaste
- Whitening kits
Trays are available as a type of plastic that fits over the teeth like a mouthguard. You fill them with a whitening gel and place them over your teeth for a specific amount of time. One drawback of this type of whitening is that there is no professional supervision available. Many people find that the gel seeps outside of the trays, making contact with their gums and leading to lingering sensitivity.
Whitening strips and toothpastes are also available that profess to be able to whiten teeth. These strips usually contain a mild whitening agent, while the toothpastes are simply not in contact with teeth long enough to have much of an effect outside of very mild cases of staining.
Inferior Products
One of the main reasons that over-the-counter teeth whitening products usually lead to disappointing results comes down to the whitening gel or toothpaste. They simply cannot match the strength of the professional teeth whitening products available at your dentist.
In-Office Teeth Whitening
One advantage of having your teeth whitened professionally is the time factor. At your dentist’s office, it may take an hour or two, but you return home with teeth that are up to eight shades whiter. If you attempt to whiten your teeth at home, you’ll probably be spending that much time every day over the course of days or weeks, only to have your teeth whitened anywhere from three to six shades.
The Bottom Line
If your teeth are only lightly discolored, you may want to give over-the-counter teeth whitening products a try. For some people, they can lead to marginal results. However, most people find that these types of products just can’t live up to professional whitening treatments from their dentist.
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