Everyone wants brighter and whiter teeth, and people are willing to pay a lot of money and go to a lot of effort to get their gnashers looking good. But many folk don’t realize that you can potentially ruin a professional whitening job if you don’t know enough about the process. Here, Dr. Bart Kreiner, who runs his own dental practice, Dr. Kreiner Family Dentistry, in Bel Air, Maryland, talks about what’s involved.
Dental whitening works better than at-home kits. The difference between in-office and at-home whitening is that the product is stronger, the effect and the outcome are both quicker, and the amount of discomfort is diminished.
If you open the dental tubules and you use a laser over the course of an hour, then you can apply the desensitizing agent to close the tubules and in 24 hours any thermal sensitivity is gone. If you use the at-home dental whitening strips or other whitening products, such as trays or toothpastes, it takes a few treatments before you become sensitive.
And then when you become sensitive, that is when the product is actually doing the whitening. And if you use the product for another week or a week and a half, you have all that additional thermal sensitivity until you stop using the product and it effects being to reverse.
Manmade Materials Don’t Bleach
Many people do not realize that manmade materials are unaffected by the bleach. So if you have manmade structures, only the natural ones will be affected, and you will have uneven whitening. You will have the same problem with dental office or home kit whitening treatments, as there is no way to bleach manmade material.
I also do not recommend that pediatric patients get their teeth bleached; they should wait until all their teeth have fully erupted. Because once they have all erupted, they will be affected (ones that have not erupted yet will not), so there will be a line of demarcation where the tooth has continued to erupt.
Keep Away from Staining Agents
Finally, when using products that whiten your teeth, they open your mouth’s enamel tubules in order to get their desired effect. As a result, while using whitening products, forego colored liquids such as red wine and coffee which can stain the teeth.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
