What’s the Best Professional Teeth Whitening System?

You would think that the answer to this question would be relatively easy.  After all, dentists are doctors and so you likely assume that they have tested and proven one or the other as the best tooth whitening system.  Right?

There are soaking methods (bleaching), lasers, gel and light pulses, and so forth.  So which one works the best?

That question can’t be answered de facto.  Professional teeth whitening is more than just a method, it’s a consideration of your dentist’s examination of your teeth, what will likely work best, and what you can afford to use.  No method is the same for everyone, so one might be effective for one person, but a different teeth whitening system might be better for someone else.

Dentistry, like medicine, is all about probabilities.  Most dentists can’t say for certain that one thing is going to work all of the time, every time.  Fillings sometimes fall out, surgeries sometimes fail, methods sometimes are ineffective.  That’s just how it is.  Just as a doctor can only guess what type of medicine might work to help you, a dentist can only make an educated guess about the best tooth whitening method for your mouth.

With all of that, the best professional teeth whitening always comes from one source: a professional.  Your dentist can tell you which one will probably work for you, which one likely won’t, and what kind of benefit you can expect from one or the other.

Other services like teeth cleaning and scrubbing can often lead to the best tooth whitening you can find.  The dentist can also tell by the underlying color of your teeth (everyone’s is different whether a particular professional teeth whitening method is going to work well or not.

Overall, it’s your dentist who will be best consulted for the best tooth whitening for your needs.  He may prescribe a take-home kit, an intense in-office professional teeth whitening system, or something elese.

Everything You Need to Know About Tray Whitening

Whether you go into the dentist or you purchase an over-the-counter version, the most common form of tooth whitening methods (except for toothpaste) is “tray whitening.”  This method involves trays formed to fit your teeth and some kind of whitening or bleach gel.

At the dentist, these trays may be formed specifically to fit your mouth while over the counter versions will be generically sized.

How well the tray fits will effect how well the whitening works, of course, but in general if the tray covers the teeth up to the gums, it’s likely to work well enough.

Obviously, the fitted ones at the dentist will do a better job and will also minimize sensitivity to the gums and gum line–a common issue amongst those who have whitening done or do it themselves.  Often, the take-home trays that the dentist might provide, which are form-fitted, can be re-used with over the counter whitening gels (which your dentist may even recommend) after being sanitized.

The common kits usually contain the tooth trays themselves, teeth whitening gel in either one dose or multiple dose tubes, and optionally a rinse agent, which is usually a sensitivity reducer.

Tooth trays have been around since the early 1900s and are not new.  They’ve evolved and become more sophisticated, of course, but are basically the same in concept as they were in their early days.  The formulas for whitening, while based on the same chemicals, have advanced considerably, however.

Teeth whitening is big business and the company with the best formula (and marketing to go with it) will stand to reap great rewards.  Tooth trays and tray whitening kits have almost always fronted the market in use for in-home whitening.

For the money, most agree that tray whitening is still the most effective way to conduct teeth whitening for most people.  The custom-fit trays you get from your dentist are proven to be the most effective tooth trays, so many consider them worth the little bit of extra effort and money.

Tray whitening methods are definitely here to stay and will likely never be replaced by fancy laser or light-sensitive methods used in-office.

Teeth Whitening Toothpastes Examined and Outed

Probably the most common (and cheapest) way that people whiten their teeth is through tooth whitening toothpastes.  These used to be the most expensive pastes on the market, but have recently become so common that their price is about the same as regular toothpaste.

This doesn’t not mean that the effectiveness of whitening toothpaste options has changed much, however.  While a few brands with better formulas have appeared, most are basically the same as they were a few years ago when the teeth whitening toothpaste market exploded.

What most people don’t know is that the scrubbing action of most types of tooth whitening toothpastes, thanks to added silica agents like dicalcium phosphate), are really doing most of the work.  The whitening agents are generally so mild (usually sodium tripolyphosphate or carbamide peroxide) that they do little or nothing to whiten teeth at all.

There are several reasons for the low concentrations of bleach agents in teeth whitening toothpaste.  The biggest of these reasons is tooth sensitivity and the difficulty of keeping a stable whitening formula (neutral pH/acidity levels) in the complex mix of things that make up most whitening toothpaste formulas.

The more neutral or stable the whitening bleach agent is, the better it works and the longer it lasts.  This is not an easy thing to accomplish and is the chief reason that the expensive whitening bleaches used by the dentist are usually more effective and cause less tooth sensitivity.

In tooth whitening toothpastes, though, the scrubbing action is the key to whiter teeth.  This means that the “less sensitive” formulas of regular toothpastes are not recommended most of the time.  The more scrub, the more clean, and the whiter the teeth.

This is why many regular toothpastes can be just as effective as teeth whitening toothpaste formulas.  With the prices being about the same, there’s little reason for concern between the two anymore, however, but you’ll likely experience less sensitivity with a non-whitening formula paste that has more scrubbing particles in it.

Treating Teeth Whitening Sensitivity Issues

Most of us would like a brighter, whiter smile.  For many, however, teeth whitening comes at a price: tooth sensitivity.

Whether you get your teeth whitening done at the dentist or you use an at-home method, it’s common that you experience tooth sensitivity after treatments.  There are reasons that this happens and knowing them will show you how you can be treating sensitivity issues to make for a better, less painful teeth whitening experience.

The tooth sensitivity that comes with teeth whitening is caused by your personal genetics, the stability of the bleaching process used, and the acidic reaction of the chemicals involved.  Most of the sensitivity comes from the changes made to the teeth themselves during the bleaching process.

As the figure shows, your teeth have millions of microscopic dentinal tubules, which extend from the pulp (nerve) out to the surface of your teeth.  These tubes are filled with fluid and movement of that fluid is what causes sensitivity.  Normally, minerals contained in your saliva plug the tops of these tubes (as shown), but bleaching usually dissolves those plugs, opening the tubules.

This creates tooth sensitivity as the fluids inside them moves.  Most liquids like bleach solution gels cannot penetrate into the tubules.  However, when the fluid inside them escapes and leaves a void, this void is often very painful.  Most of the time, tooth sensitivity is merely the movement of fluid as some escapes before new plugs are formed.

Some people, genetically, are more predisposed to this tooth sensitivity than others: especially fair-haired people and those with larger, thicker teeth.

The plugs dissolving are not due to the bleach itself, but the acidity of the bleach instead.  Usually, higher-quality gels and treatments will not cause much tooth sensitivity as they are formulated to be as acidically neutral as possible.  Lower-cost gels and bleaches, however, do not go through the processes required for thsi and are usually slightly alkaline or acidic.  This is the main cause of tooth sensitivity.

Desensitizing agents are commonly used in treating sensitivity and are available in toothpastes, as after-appliques for whitening, or are in the whitening gels themselves.  Finally, newer desensitizers include oxalates and HEMA-based products for restoring the plugs.

Tooth sensitivity during and after teeth whitening is not a big issue if you understand how to be treating sensitivity issues before they become painful.

Teeth Whitening vs. Teeth Bleaching

Believe it or not, teeth whitening is not the same as teeth bleaching.  While they generally have the same result (whiter teeth), they aren’t the same process.  The difference lies in what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines in “bleaching.”

Bleaching is the process of removing color from a substance.  Seems like kind of a dumb semantic difference, but it’s important in one aspect: teeth bleaching does not necessarily mean teeth get whiter, just that they have color removed.

The reason this is an important difference is because cosmetically, teeth bleaching can only remove color, but the base color of the teeth will remain.  People generally have an undertone of light brown, gray, or yellow to their teeth due to the coloration of the substrate underneath the enamel.  Coloration on that level (under the enamel) is usually called intrinsic coloring, referring to the “base” coloration of the teeth.

Usually, only the deep “intrinsic” bleaches used in a dentist’s office can really change that base color.  So most teeth bleaching will not make teeth “white” per se, but they can reduce the discoloration that makes them appear dirty.  The everyday coffee, tea, tobacco, and other stains that make most of our teeth’s discoloration can be reduced or eliminated with teeth bleaching.

For true teeth whitening, however, you’ll likely need to see a dentist and take part in a more intensive therapy to remove the discoloration.  No matter what your teeth whitening plans, you will want to get a good cleaning before you start as even teeth bleaching can only do so much for very dirty teeth.

When you are shopping for a teeth whitening solution, make sure that you look for the seal of the American Dental Association (ADA) so you know that you’re getting something that’s been approved to be safe for your teeth.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only tests over-the-counter teeth bleaching solutions to be safe for ingestion (food) as they are not considered medicines (drugs).

So be aware of what you will be using and whether it is effective and safe to use.