Teeth whitening has become a mainstream personal improvement choice over the last ten years, and the marketplace is flooded with products and services that remove dental stains and restore dental luster. The important technological element in teeth whitening today is that virtually every procedure available uses a bleaching process rather than abrasion. Brighter teeth are the result of whiter teeth that have been cleaned while the enamel is left intact.
The best part of a visit to the dental hygienist is the last step, when your teeth are being polished by yet another whirring, handheld device. The notion of polishing teeth has enormous appeal and is part of the appeal of the teeth whitening process, especially the professional teeth whitening that involves a dentist’s touch. The powerful bleaching agents used in cosmetic dentistry whitening accomplish their task during a session of an hour or two and the patient goes out the door with an entirely different smile than the one that walked in.
There are perhaps a dozen whitening systems designed for a dentist’s office and dozens more that are meant for home use. Each of them can lead to brighter teeth; the difference is a matter of degree. At home teeth whitening kits that include bleach-soaked strips for placing across the teeth or mouth trays that surround the teeth with bleaching gel all have a whitening effect. With some users the result is a brighter smile while with others the stains and tooth discoloring can’t be overcome by the consumer-level products.
The laser teeth whitening systems used in dental offices today can do a spectacular job in one afternoon session. The staying power of those systems may not brighten teeth as well as a whitening process that is conducted by the patient under the guidance of a dentist. This process involves using mouth trays that are custom made by the dentist to fit your dental pattern. The trays are filled with bleaching gel once a day and worn for one to two hours. Over a period of one to two weeks the teeth are slowly bleached until the teeth brightening effect is maximized.