InfoBarrel > Health > Surgery & Treatment > Dental

How to Select A Teeth Whitening Product

0 Comments | Rating: 0 | |

If you are one of the millions of people in pursuit of whiter teeth, you may be overwhelmed by the number of teeth whitening options available. Here are a few of the most common teeth whitening techniques including at home teeth whitening products as well as professional teeth whitening procedures.

When choosing an at home teeth whitening product, select a product that has peroxide listed as the main ingredient. These products whiten teeth by bleaching them and usually involve the use of mouth trays with a whitening gel or paste inserted into them. Simply leave these in the mouth for a certain period of time and then rinse well with water. Peroxide based teeth whitening products work well for surface stains such as tea and coffee, but will not work if your teeth are stained due to genetics or medication. They also take much longer to work than professional teeth whitening procedures.

There is one word of caution regarding at-home treatments. Overuse of these products can cause tooth and gum damage such as red, irritated gums; splotchy spots on teeth; a bluish tinge to teeth and extreme sensitivity to hot and cold liquids. However, when used as directed by the package instructions, these at home teeth whiteners are perfectly safe to use.

Professional teeth whitening procedures allow you to obtain quicker results, but are also more expensive. These procedures are done by dentists and involve many of the same techniques used in at-home whitening treatments. The difference is that the dentist will also use lasers to enhance the treatment. The effects of these professional teeth whitening treatments are instantaneous and you will walk out of the dentist's office with a bright white smile.

Teeth whitening is an ongoing process. You can't simply do it once and have white teeth for life. For that reason, it's a good idea to use whitening tooth pastes and whitening mouth wash after the procedure. Although these products alone do little to significantly whiten the teeth, they are very effective at preventing the teeth from becoming stained again after they have been whitened.

In addition to using whitening tooth pastes and whitening mouth washes for maintenance purposes, it's important to change your eating habits so as not to restain teeth after they have been whitened. The biggest cause of teeth stains are from drinking liquids such as coffee, tea, red wine, soda and colored drink products (such as Kool Aid or dark colored fruit juice). In addition, tobacco from smoking cigarettes will stain teeth and is very hard to get rid of.