Those Little White Lies About Teeth Whitening

Little White Lie #1

The Lie: Whitening toothpastes are highly effective at whitening your teeth.

The Truth: Naturally, brushing your teeth is always a good idea, since it's essential to keeping them clean and generally an important part of good dental hygiene. Should you use a whitening toothpaste though? You certainly can, but you shouldn't start using these products in the expectation that these will be able to produce any significant degree of whitening. There's certainly nothing wrong with using these whitening toothpastes, but the whitening agents in these products just don't spend enough time in contact with your teeth to really make a difference.

The saliva washes any of the whitening agents away quickly, keeping them from staying in contact for a duration long enough to produce an effect. Additionally, whitening toothpastes are formulated with whitening agents in concentrations far too low to have much of an impact even supposing that these ingredients weren't washed away quickly by your saliva. Whitening toothpaste is a great idea but until some radically different type of toothpaste is developed, you won't see any results from these toothpastes that any other type of toothpaste can't produce.

Little White Lie #2

The Lie: Having your dentist whiten your teeth is the best way to get a brighter, whiter smile.

The Truth: Yes, it is true that your dentist can help you to get whiter teeth. However, you don't have to go to your dentist to get the same effect. The whitening agent which your dentist uses is almost invariably either Carbamide Peroxide or Hydrogen Peroxide: the same whitening agents used in do-it-yourself tooth whitening systems.

How effective these peroxide tooth whitening systems are depends on two things: How high of a concentration of peroxide is present in the whitening gel and how long this product spends in direct contact with your teeth.

The same results that you could get from a whitening procedure performed by your dentist can be gotten with an at home tooth whitening system as well. It's simply a question of using a highly concentrated whitener for a short duration versus a less concentrated whitener for a longer time.

Either method produces the same results, though there is one factor which differs significantly: the cost. You'll pay four to eight times as much to have a dentist whiten your teeth as you would to whiten them using an at home teeth whitening system. Since you can get the same results at home with a much smaller price tag, it's no surprise that an increasing number of people are starting to choose at home tooth whitening over a dental procedure.

Little White Lie #3

The Lie: All tooth whitening products are the same.

The Truth: The quality and the efficacy of different tooth whitening products varies greatly, as do the methods of application. Some of these products work better than others and some really can't be said to work at all, if the truth is to be told.

The difference generally comes down to the ingredients used in the product. Different whitening gels differ in their concentration of active ingredients - and thus in the degree to which they are effective. Before making a purchase, you should look at the different products; some are made for specific types and levels of staining.

Little White Lie #4

The Lie: Bleaching your teeth damages the teeth and the gums.

The Truth: Teeth whitening systems don't cause any damage to your teeth or gums. You apply the whitening agent to your teeth and the organic deposits which cause staining or discoloration on the surface of the teeth are removed through oxidation. This process is not harmful to your teeth or gums. However, it is possible that the procedure can cause some very short-lived sensitivity in the teeth. If this is a problem, the effect can be reduced or eliminated simply by shortening the time that the whitening gel spends in contact with your teeth.

Some whitening gels can also cause minor irritation to the gums - this usually happens because the whitening trays used in the procedure are poorly fitted. This is why using an at home tooth whitening system which uses custom-fitted whitening trays is always the best way to go.

Little White Lie #5

The Lie: Using whitening strips is the best way to get whiter teeth.

The Truth: Our teeth are as unique as we are. This means that it's impossible to design a whitening strip which can actually maintain contact with the entire surface of our teeth. Even in a best case scenario, these strips can only help whiten the front surface of your teeth, with grooves in the teeth and the gaps between your teeth left unaffected by the whitening strip. What these strips cause is uneven tooth whitening, leaving a striped appearance, with stains apparent on the parts of the teeth which they don't cover. Many consider this to actually be worse than the original problem!

Little White Lie #6

The Lie: You don't need a custom whitening tray; besides, the thermoform trays are cheaper

The Truth: This is just simply not true. Thermoform trays have the same problem as do whitening strips; they don't take into account the fact that everyone's teeth are different. After all, you wouldn't expect someone else's dentures to fit. Custom whitening trays are designed to perfectly conform to your teeth and as such, they don't leave behind unwhitened areas like a thermoform tray will, since they stay in contact with your teeth. Custom trays also have the advantage of reducing the possibility of gum irritation, since little to no whitening gel can escape from the tray during the whitening process.

Little White Lie #7

The Lie: The paint on tooth whitening products are the easiest and therefore the best at home tooth whitening products

The Truth:It's absolutely true that the paint on tooth whiteners are incredibly easy to use, but that doesn't mean that they're effective. Just like whitening toothpaste, it's a great idea but it shares the same fatal weakness as toothpastes as far as whitening your teeth goes: the whitening agents used don't spend enough time in contact with your teeth before being washed away by saliva to be effective. There is the other problem that the concentration of whitening agents is too low to really whiten your teeth - the concentration is low to prevent gum irritation. Even the very best paint on tooth whiteners provide only limited whitening which doesn't last for long - and they give your teeth an unevenly whitened, unnatural look.

There are other products of this type which don't really whiten at all, being nothing more than a cover-up which does nothing to remove stains.

Little White Lie #8

The Lie: Teeth whitening systems which use electroluminescence in conjunction with a whitening gel work better than systems which only use a gel because of the high-tech light technology activating the ingredients of the gel

The Truth: The electroluminescence tooth whitening systems certainly look high tech, don't they? Unfortunately, these systems are only so much hype. The whitening gel is what causes the whitening these systems provide - the electroluminescence does nothing to make the procedure more effective. It may look high tech, but this lighting technology is the same as that used in children's toys. You may as well save some money and purchase an at home whitening solution which omits the lights - it really doesn't add anything in terms of whitening.

Little White Lie #9

The Lie: Tooth bleaching procedures provide everyone with the same results

The Truth: Every individual is different and so are their teeth; including their staining. Some stains are easier to bleach than others. Yellow stains are the easiest to remove, followed by brown staining. Teeth which are stained to a grayish shade are the most difficult to whiten by the use of a bleaching procedure.

Little White Lie #10

The Lie: Swallowing tooth whitening gel is harmful

The Truth: There is about a 100% chance that you'll swallow at least a little bit of tooth whitening gel regardless of which tooth whitening system you choose. It's not harmful, though it does have an odd taste.

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