Home Teeth Whitening

Considered to be one of the best home teeth whitening products available in the market today, teeth whitening strips are a great alternative to the complicated tray based whitening product that many people find complicated to use. These teeth whitening strips are made of thin polyethylene strips which are pre-coated with a film of hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide here acts as the bleaching agent. These kits have two different sets of strips, one for the upper and one for the lower teeth. To use them, you just apply the bleach to your teeth by pressing the teeth whitening strips firmly to place on your teeth. They should remain there for at least 30 minutes and at 12 hour intervals over a span of 2 weeks. The number of days depends on the strength of the bleaching agent contained in the strip.

This might seem like a mess free, uncomplicated alternative to the whitening tray but it also has its downsides. The use of hydrogen peroxide as a bleaching agent for the strips isn’t approved of by many in the dental industry because the amount that is needed to actually see significant changes in your teeth’s color isn’t safe for use in the home environment. The preferred bleaching agent is Carbamide Peroxide which is present in tray based whitening products. There are also some side effects related to the use of teeth whitening strips such as gum irritation and sensitive teeth. But these effects are not permanent and would eventually disappear over time. The likelihood of a person to feel these effects are is reduced if you use whitening strips with lower concentrations of bleaching agent. It will have the same effect as the higher ones but it will take them longer to achieve it. But if you don’t want the discomfort of the side effects then the lower the better.

But similar side effects could also be experienced with other home based teeth whitening kits. This is because of the bleaching agent that is used or the trauma when using bleaching trays. Custom made trays, which you can now get even without an appointment with your dentists are also available. These custom trays are designed to reduce the likelihoon of gum irritation, a side effect of the whitening process. But despite all the available home based teeth whitening products, the dental industry still recommends opting for a cosmetic dentist if you are considering getting your teeth whitened. As a professional would be able to assess your teeth’s current condition better and as such they would know which products would be the best for you to use. There are also instances wherein you cannot get your teeth whitened nor use teeth whitening strips and some such because of some problems with your teeth like, hyper sensitivity, bridges, implants, cracked or chipped teeth and dental crowns. So it is still recommended that you go for the professional treatment because doing home based whitening treatments might be causing your teeth damage that you are unaware of. Also, the results are better when whitening is done professionally; with just one treatment your teeth could be ten times lighter!