How Teeth Whitening Works

The modern world today places a lot of importance on the presentation and packaging of everything. This could be a course, a gift, a product and even a human being. The best of best of anything, if it is not attractively presented, it risks to be rejected. When it comes to human beings also their outward appearance is very crucial for their position advancement in their career. This is why they ay a lot of attention and money on their personal grooming.

One of the most visible aspects in the overall grooming of a person is the color and shape of their teeth. People who have a well coordinated and white set of teeth are more attractive than those who have yellowish-brown decayed set of teeth. Since the color of the teeth usually deteriorates with age, people resort to teeth whitening processes to maintain their attractiveness.

What Is Teeth Whitening Process?

The process that when applied to human teeth, removes any existing discoloration making the teeth porcelain white is known as teeth whitening process. Everyone can avail of this process and enjoy an exceptionally dazzling smile, with the exception of people who have sensitive teeth. For them this process is contraindicated because it would further aggravate the condition.

There are many such teeth whitening options:

1. Teeth bleaching – which involves a bleaching solution (carbamide peroxide in 10% concentration) which would need to be applied to the teeth for a brief period over one or two weeks.
2. Laser teeth whitening – this is a method where a laser ray is used to trigger the effects of the whitening solution. With this method you can almost instant results.
3. Toothpaste for whitening of teeth – this is a more slow method but one which hardly has any side effects.
4. Teeth whitening strips – these are strips dipped in peroxide solution which need to be carefully applied over the teeth and kept there for about 30 minutes.

How Does The Teeth Whitening Work?

There are two ways to have your teeth whitened – (i) one is done by a dentist and it is called professional tooth whitening system; and (ii) the other is done at home through various do-it-yourself kits. The main ingredient in both these methods that brings about the whitening of teeth is carbamide peroxide. There is a difference, though. The professional teeth whitening solution would contain 15% of this ingredient, while the DIY kits would contain maximum 10%.

The whitening of the teeth is the direct result of the bleaching effect of the carbamide solution on the enamel of the teeth. This is why it is contraindicated for people who already have sensitive teeth. The professional teeth whitening process usually involved laser rays which activate the gel already applied to the teeth. The impact of this process can be visible within an hour – which is why it is highly south after.

The home kits also use the carbamide peroxide as the active ingredient. However, this is more time taking as the solution is weaker than the one used by the professional dentist and hence, it needs to be repeated over a week or two until you achieve the required results.

The carbamide peroxide simply bleaches the enamel of the teeth bringing back their original shine to the front. Since the bleaching effects is sometimes very strong, you might experience teeth and even gum sensitivity for a while – though these negative symptoms would pass on their own after a few days.

It is very important here that you pay close attention to the way you apply and how long you are keeping the solution on your teeth, lest you would have to experience some over-sensitiveness of your teeth.