The White Choice For Your Teeth

By E. Taylor Meiser, DDS, PA

Lighthouse Family Dentistry

. http://lighthousefamilydentistry.com/

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The White Choice For Your Teeth

Everyone wants to have an attractive smile. Having whiter and brighter teeth will make anyone's smile more attractive. Teeth whitening has advanced tremendously from the abrasive toothpastes like Pearl Drops. Now there are several types of teeth whitening techniques to choose from. Reading this article about the three main kinds of teeth whitening will help you in making the “white” choice.

The state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line teeth whitening treatment is the one-hour, in-office professional power bleaching. This one appointment, fast, easy, comfortable, safe and very effective bleaching procedure produces dramatic shade changes that are long lasting.

The patient relaxes reclined in the dental chair while the bleaching material on the teeth is accelerated by a special light so that the whitening effect takes place in about an hour. The patient first rinses with water, then a fluoride rinse and is ready to go. Any sensitivity is rare, and if present, is mild and transient. Results are long lasting, often over a year, and can be maintained indefinitely with the daily use of readily available over-the-counter whitening toothpastes, like Rembrandt Dazzling White.

The standard take-home tray bleaching systems are still around and can be just as effective as power bleaching. This whitening technique takes more time and effort. Two trips to the dentist are necessary one to take a mold of your teeth from which custom fitted bleaching trays will be fabricated and the second to pick up the trays, and get the bleaching materials and instructions on how to use the trays and bleach to whiten your teeth.

The obvious disadvantages of the trays system are the mess and hassle of wearing trays full of bleaching gel, repeating this procedure on a daily basis at a convenient time, and waiting often several weeks to see significant results. It may be difficult to appreciate the actual amount of whitening that has taken place when it occurs so gradually over several weeks.

The third type of whitening is the most economical, but not the most effective this is whitening strips. Whitening strips take the place of gel-filled trays. Bleach impregnated strips are placed over the front surfaces of the teeth and worn for 30 minutes twice a day until the desired whitening happens. There are professional grade strips that are more effective than the store-bought kinds of strips.