Best Teeth Whitening Products
Teeth are living tissue and a key component of a healthy body – Teeth Whitening
Each tooth consists of a crown, which is the white part of the tooth, and the root, which sits inside the gum and out of view. The outside of the crown is covered with a hard substance called enamel. This substance is harder than bone and protects the softer tissue that makes up the core of the tooth.
Underneath the enamel shell is dentin, a yellowish substance that’s similar to bone, but not as hard as enamel. If you lose enamel to trauma, abrasion or age, from the outside of the tooth, the dentin underneath is then exposed to bacteria and other agents that can cause decay. That decay can lead to cavities and other dental problems.
Society at large values bright, white enamel because it’s typically a marker of youth, health and beauty. As you age, it’s natural for your teeth to turn yellowish or darker – this happens as the enamel naturally wears away over time, revealing more of the dentin below.
Other factors can contribute to the dimming of your smile, from smoking to coffee drinking and taking certain medications. Stains from tea, soda, tobacco or other staining foods and drinks can build up over time, which leads many people to want to try to whiten their smile to restore some of that youthful, healthy look.
Whitening Gels
Gels can be painted onto the teeth using a small brush or, more commonly, the solution is delivered to the teeth via trays that are filled with the gel and fit over the teeth like a mouth guard.
“Custom trays work similarly to white strips, except you have to get them made at your dental office,” DiFoggio says. This means your dental provider will take impressions of your teeth and then create trays that fit your unique smile perfectly. You can take these home and fill them with the gel and then wear them for the prescribed amount of time (often about 30 minutes at a time) to achieve at-home whitening.
DiFoggio says that because these trays are custom-built for your mouth, “it’s really rare to see any cases of burns on the gums. They also tend to really stay and stick on teeth even with saliva-filled mouths, so they’re definitely more user-friendly and neater.