DEBUNKING 3 COMMON TEETH WHITENING MYTHS
Are your teeth not as bright and white as they should be? Even if your teeth are healthy, there are a lot of reasons why they might appear yellowed. Often, it comes down to what you eat and drink. Certain foods and beverages, like blackberries or coffee, can leave stains on your teeth. Teeth also tend to darken with age. If you smoke or use tobacco products, your teeth may develop yellow or brown stains. And certain medications can also cause stains. Fortunately, you can restore your bright smile with tooth whitening treatments. Many people have misconceptions about tooth whitening treatments, so take a look at the truth behind some tooth whitening myths so that you can make an informed decision.
MYTH 1. YOUR CAN BRUSH THE STAIN AWAY
Yes, you can buy whitening toothpaste, and it’s less expensive than having a whitening treatment done at the dentist’s office. However, it may not be strong enough to remove the stains on your teeth. And even if it does lift some of the surface stains, it won’t actually make your teeth whiter, because it doesn’t contain a bleaching agent. If your concern is that your teeth are less white and bright than they should be overall, whitening toothpaste probably won’t solve the problem.
What’s more, you could actually harm your teeth with ongoing use of whitening toothpaste. These toothpastes contain abrasive materials meant to scrub stains off, but when you scrub your teeth with these abrasives too often, you can break down the protective top layer of tooth material, leading to sensitive teeth.
MYTH 2. OVER THE COUNTER TEETH WHITENING IS AS GOOD AS IN-OFFICE TEETH WHITENING BY DENTIST
If you use at-home treatments that you buy over the counter treatments even with the whitening gels given to you by your dentist, you’ll need several treatments before you begin to see the results you want. At most these in-house treatments will provide you 2-3 shades lighter teeth. In contrast, in office treatments provided by a dentist (such as Glo teeth whitening or Zoom teeth whitening) use a more advanced technology and a much stronger professional whitening gel. These in-office whitening treatments can whiten your teeth up to 8 shades lighter in less than an hour.
Any sensitivity from teeth whitening treatments is transient. That is, it disappears over time on its own. Different treatments options lead to different levels of sensitivity. The over the counter or dental trays treatments lead to the most amount of sensitivity. Zoom teeth whitening causes substantially less teeth sensitivity. However, Glo teeth whitening causes no teeth sensitivity. If you have sensitive teeth or are concerned about sensitivity, Glo teeth whitening is the option you should choose.
