For all the people who value the way they look greatly tooth whitening is the craze of the moment, and everyone is going for the procedure. It used to be a domain for the celebrities and the extremely wealthy but today almost everyone who cares about it can easily afford the procedure. An attractive smile is like a neon sign announcing a youthful, pleasant and charming personality. It is also the key that opens up many doors. Not surprisingly, Hollywood stars and professional singers spend considerable amounts on tooth whitening/teeth bleaching procedures. Yellowed, stained teeth can spoil that important first impression, and even turn people off.

Woman Bleaching Her Teeth

You will notice that when people are younger then their teeth are whiter than those of adults. This is simply because the mineral structure of our teeth changes progressively with age. It is also apparent that our lifestyle habits can also influence and change the color of our teeth as well. Tobacco use especially can and does change the color of our teeth as well as bacterial pigments.  In such cases, tooth whitening reverses the discoloration, restoring a dazzling smile. Sometimes, it is necessary to have tooth whitening done for health reasons. The discoloration may cause dental deterioration and the dentist therefore removes it on preventative grounds.

The procedure of tooth bleaching is done by using of oxidizing agents like hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide which agents interact with your teeth’s enamel, oxidizing spots and stain deposits in the same way that bleaching agents whiten clothes. When it is done repeatedly the bleaching action gets to sink lower and into the dentine layer. At the end of the teeth whitening process the bleach gets to remove all those signs of unsightly coloration and what you remain with a dazzling white teeth and what you would call a Hollywood smile.

There are two basic ways that dentists will perform the procedure. There is what is called the ‘office bleach’ which involves application of a layer of the oxidizing agent onto the teeth. After a short period of time the dentist flushes away this layer and what you remain with is a dazzling instant appearance of pearl white teeth. The dentist usually uses a 35% hydrogen peroxide equivalent for this procedure. While it is certainly fast, using this method of tooth whitening is not entirely risk-free. The bleaching agent can damage the soft tissues because of chemical burns and the dentist must therefore supervise the process minutely.

The second method of teeth bleaching involves the placement of a thin strip of material that will hold the bleaching agent directly onto your teeth. This bleaching agent remains in contact with your teeth for some set period of time before the dentist gets to remove it.  The patient retains it for periods ranging between a few hours to several days. Bleaching teeth by this method is not as convenient as the ‘office bleach’ method and obviously takes more time. However, many dentists advise their patients to opt for it rather than the ‘quick fix’ method. This is because this method of tooth whitening carries with it less risk of soft tissue damage.

The next important thing you may need to take notice of is that tooth whitening procedures may not work successfully in all patients who seek the treatment. There are patients who have yellowed teeth because they have used some antibiotics like tetracycline. The stains that are caused by such an antibiotic do not respond to teeth whitening processes. In such cases, repeated teeth bleaching is required to penetrate the dentine layer and bring about the desired effects.

Today there are newer procedures that now involve the use of light to speed up the process of the whitening. These processes of using light are still in the formative stages but the results are so far good and the developments are still on going. However, the perfection of this new process can certainly revolutionize teeth whitening, making it a faster and safer process. Other areas that medical scientists need to address are the issues of chemical burns, sensitive teeth, over bleaching and premature loss of the whitening effect.