Is Tooth Bleaching Safe?

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Although our teeth are not naturally meant to be completely white as milk, many people want a brighter smile. Tooth bleaching has become the most popular way for dentists to help their patients obtain whiter smiles.

Professional Tooth Bleaching

Prior to the 1990′s substantially the only tooth bleaching option that was available to people was “in-office” professional tooth bleaching performed by the dentist, when dentists bleached teeth with special equipment in their dental chair.

A professional tooth bleaching starts from putting by your dentist a rubber dam around your teeth to protect your gums. Then, the teeth bleaching gel is painted onto your teeth and a special, bright light is pointed at them. This light speeds up tooth bleaching process. The whitening procedure takes one to two hours. The effects of in-office tooth bleaching are immediate.

Tooth Bleaching at Home

Home tooth bleaching, is a more recent phenomenon nowadays. It becomes more and more popular because of fast growing of tooth whitening products, such as gels, and tooth bleaching systems and techniques.

For “professional” home teeth bleaching your dentist may make personal mouthguards, so that they fit your teeth precisely, and your dentist should  give you tubes of bleaching gel and instructions on how to put the gel in the mouthguards.

You will need to wear the mouthguards for a few hours each day. It may take a few weeks to achieve the color that you want.

Home tooth bleaching has some advantages over in office professional tooth bleaching. The whitener that is used typically contains a much lower concentration of peroxide, thus making the potential for problems associated with side effects of whitening teeth less of an issue.

Side Effect of Tooth Bleaching

In some studies, patients have experienced uncomfortable short-term side effects when having teeth bleached. Hydrogen peroxide can increase temperature sensitivity in the teeth, particularly at higher concentrations, and nightguards often cause gum irritation.

There is also a possibility of over-bleaching. The result will be a translucency that may appear gray from the shadows of the mouth. There is a very low percentage of this occurring, and only if the tooth bleaching process is over-extended you should consult your dentist.

Since 1989 a number of dental researchers have investigated various safety considerations that might be associated with tooth bleaching. This research has led to the general consensus that while this technique is not without side effects, dentist-dispensed at-home tray-based teeth whitening systems utilizing a 10% carbamide peroxide whitener are safe to use.

In fact, this type of whitening system has gained wide acceptance by the dental community as a whole. The great majority of dentists do offer tray teeth bleaching systems to their patients. On the whole, dentists regard the procedure of tooth bleaching to be a safe one. Thus, Dr Mervyn Druian, of the BDA, says: “It is a safe, effective procedure that we have used with great success for a long time.”Dentist Dr Jonathan Levy thinks that tooth bleaching: “is very effective, very efficient and very comfortable for the patient. It is nice to give patients instant results. They come in with a dull smile, and they go out with a bright smile.”

Contra-Indications For Tooth Bleaching

Tooth bleaching is not recommended for smokers or alcohol users. Smokers should stop smoking before having their teeth bleached. The smoking not only defeats the effect of tooth bleaching but there is concern about the mixture of hydrogen peroxide with smoking having a increasing effect on dental tissue damage already known to be caused by smoking.

If you have pre-existing dental cosmetic restoration (bonding, porcelain crowns or veneers) you may need to replace them after tooth bleaching in order to match your new, whiter smile.

Stains in the gray family (such as from tetracycline) can be harder to remove, if not impossible. These stains can take up to six months or longer to whiten. The best candidates for tooth bleaching are those with stains caused by coffee, tobacco or aging.

It is important for you to understand that every individual’s teeth respond in a unique way to tooth bleaching. Overall, tooth bleaching under professional supervision is an effective method for whitening the teeth.