Teeth bleaching has become an incredibly popular and simply way to improve the appearance of your teeth. When you were a child your teeth were probably naturally white. As your adult teeth mature the mineral structure and the enamel change causing the teeth to darken.
Your teeth can become strained and yellowed by certain foods, bacterial pigments, coffee and tobacco. There are even oral antibiotic medications such as tetracycline, which can cause teeth stains or dim the lustrous shine of your formerly pearly whites.
There are numerous ways to get that luster back, but teeth bleaching can be among the easiest and most affordable. There are various methods of teeth bleaching depending on how quickly you need the bleaching to show effect.
Bleaching can be done at home, in clinic by a technician or by a dentist.
If time isn’t an issue you can go about teeth bleaching slowly by the daily use of toothpaste containing aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate and silica. This isn’t really teeth bleaching as the whitening toothpaste doesn’t actually change the color of the teeth as much as it removes the stains by grinding them down.
For faster results, you can use gel bleaching at a low or high concentration either at home or in a dentist office. These gels contain varying amounts of carbamide peroxide and of course the higher the concentration the faster this agent whitens the teeth.
When this procedure is used at home the gel held against the teeth by use of either a plastic tray or spread on a thin sheet of plastic, which is then held in place against the teeth. This type of teeth bleaching usually only takes a few minutes a day and results can often be seen quickly.
This same method is used in a doctor’s office with the addition painting a light protective layer over gums to reduce the chance of the chemicals causing the soft tissue to burn.
There are other possible side effects of teeth bleaching including the burning or discoloration of the gums or causing the teeth to become sensitive to cold or hot foods and drinks.
Most people who try teeth bleaching report few problems, and enjoy the social benefits of having a whiter more attractive smile.