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Those Little White Lies They Tell About Teeth Whitening
By Steve Q Lane Published: 09/11/2009
Little White Lie #1
The Lie: Brushing your teeth with whitening toothpaste is the best way to whiten your teeth.
The Truth: No one would argue that you shouldn't brush your teeth regularly and whitening toothpaste certainly couldn't hurt. Brushing your teeth is vital to the health of your teeth as well as being a basic tenet of good hygiene. However, the ingredients in whitening toothpastes just don't spend enough time in direct contact with your teeth to provide the kind of results that people tend to believe that they have.
Your saliva tends to wash off the whitening agents from your teeth, which means that the whitening agents spend only a minimal amount of time in contact with your teeth. It also needs to be noted that the whitening agents in these toothpastes are generally present in extremely low quantities to prevent them from causing irritation. While whitening toothpaste is a great idea on paper, the reality isn't as wonderful as we'd all like to think.
Little White Lie #2
The Lie: Having your dentist whiten your teeth is the best way to get a brighter, whiter smile.
The Truth: It's not really the case that any one method of teeth whitening is the "best" way. Your dentist can perform tooth whitening for you, but this doesn't mean that the results are going to be any better. The in-office teeth whitening procedures that your dentist can do for you use hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide; that is to say the exact same whitening agents that are used in do it yourself teeth whiteners.
How effective these peroxide tooth whitening systems are depends on two things: How high of a concentration of peroxide is present in the whitening gel and how long this product spends in direct contact with your teeth.
What does this mean? It's simple - you can use a high concentration whitening solution for a short period of time as your dentist would, or a lower concentration product for a longer duration; the approach used with do it yourself teeth whiteners.
Either method produces the same results, though there is one factor which differs significantly: the cost. You'll pay four to eight times as much to have a dentist whiten your teeth as you would to whiten them using an at home teeth whitening system. Since you can get the same results at home with a much smaller price tag, it's no surprise that an increasing number of people are starting to choose at home tooth whitening over a dental procedure.
Little White Lie #3
The Lie: Every tooth whitening product works equally well.
The Truth: It is decidedly not the case that all tooth whitening products are created equal. There are some products which work quite well, while others don't really work at all.
Where these products differ is in the whitening agents which are used. Different products may use one or the other of the two most common whitening agents - but the real difference is in the concentration of these agents, which is what really separates an effective product from one which doesn't get results. Before you choose an at home whitening product, you should examine the available alternatives, keeping in mind what type of staining you're seeking to reverse and how severe this staining is.
Little White Lie #4
The Lie: Tooth whitening can damage your teeth and gums.
The Truth: Tooth bleaching does not harm your teeth or your gums. The whitening agent is applied directly to your teeth and a process of oxidation begins which dissolves the deposits of organic materials which stain or discolor teeth. No harm is done to the teeth or the gums - it is possible that the teeth may temporarily become sensitive, though this is a short-lived side effect which can be eliminated by reducing the time that the agent is applied to the teeth.
It's possible that these whitening agents can irritate the gums, but this is typically due to poorly fitting whitening trays that cause the gums to come in contact with the whitening product. For this reason, it is highly recommended to use at home whitening systems that use custom whitening trays.
Little White Lie #5
The Lie: Whitening strips are the best, most effective method, of whitening the teeth
The Truth: There's that word "best" again. However, it is not the case that whitening strips are the best, or even among the best methods of tooth whitening. The problem is that no two people have the same teeth, meaning that a whitening strip can't conform to the surface of your teeth perfectly. Grooves and depressions in the teeth aren't affected and even in the best case scenario, a whitening strip can only get the front of your teeth. You'll get uneven whitening and very unattractive "stripes" of stained teeth - something which can actually look worse than before you started using the strips!
Little White Lie #6
The Lie: Thermoform trays are cheaper and work just as well as custom whitening tray.
The Truth: This is just simply not true. Thermoform trays have the same problem as do whitening strips; they don't take into account the fact that everyone's teeth are different. After all, you wouldn't expect someone else's dentures to fit. Custom whitening trays are designed to perfectly conform to your teeth and as such, they don't leave behind unwhitened areas like a thermoform tray will, since they stay in contact with your teeth. Custom trays also have the advantage of reducing the possibility of gum irritation, since little to no whitening gel can escape from the tray during the whitening process.
Little White Lie #7
The Lie: Paint on style tooth whiteners are the best way to go since they're the easiest kind to use.
The Truth:It's absolutely true that the paint on tooth whiteners are incredibly easy to use, but that doesn't mean that they're effective. Just like whitening toothpaste, it's a great idea but it shares the same fatal weakness as toothpastes as far as whitening your teeth goes: the whitening agents used don't spend enough time in contact with your teeth before being washed away by saliva to be effective. There is the other problem that the concentration of whitening agents is too low to really whiten your teeth - the concentration is low to prevent gum irritation. Even the very best paint on tooth whiteners provide only limited whitening which doesn't last for long - and they give your teeth an unevenly whitened, unnatural look.
Other paint on tooth whiteners are basically whitewash for the teeth and do nothing to actually remove stains and discoloration.
Little White Lie #8
The Lie: Teeth whitening systems which use electroluminescence in conjunction with a whitening gel work better than systems which only use a gel because of the high-tech light technology activating the ingredients of the gel
The Truth: The electroluminescence tooth whitening systems certainly look high tech, don't they? Unfortunately, these systems are only so much hype. The whitening gel is what causes the whitening these systems provide - the electroluminescence does nothing to make the procedure more effective. It may look high tech, but this lighting technology is the same as that used in children's toys. You may as well save some money and purchase an at home whitening solution which omits the lights - it really doesn't add anything in terms of whitening.
Little White Lie #9
The Lie: Tooth bleaching procedures work the same for everyone.
The Truth: Everyone's teeth are as individual as they are - and so are their stains and discoloration. There are stains which are more easily bleached away than others. Yellowish teeth are the easiest to whiten, brownish teeth harder to bleach and grayish stains are the hardest of all to whiten through bleaching.
Little White Lie #10
The Lie: Swallowing tooth whitening solutions causes internal injury.
The Truth: Any tooth whitening procedure involves swallowing some of the whitening gel used. It doesn't matter what type of system you choose, the chances of swallowing a small amount of whitening gel are 100%. There is no risk of injury from swallowing these miniscule quantities of tooth whitening solutions; they may not taste fantastic, but you won't be doing yourself any harm.