Sunday, October 16, 2011

Teeth Whitening Products - The Whys And Wherefores

By Owen Jones


It is not so simple to decide on teeth whitening products as it might appear at first because there is so much choice these days. It has become confusing, especially as some of those teeth whitening products have a rather poor reputation for providing the promised results.

Teeth whitening experts will tell you that the best teeth whitening products can only be obtained from your dentist, but then most people suspect that these experts have a personal interest in promoting dentists. They state that teeth whitening products obtainable through dentists achieve the fastest results.

However, they seldom mention the fact that teeth whitening by a dentist can cost $2,000 or more. Another fact that they like to skip over, is that many people are frightened of going to the dentist and have been since childhood.

Although hardly any dentists explicitly advocate teeth whitening products for home use, many experts agree that home teeth whitening products can produce the required results, even if it takes longer. It is certainly cheaper and it can last longer too. Home teeth whitening products need to be used frequently, whereas dentistry whitening needs to be done only once every year or two.

The active constituents in both home and professional teeth whitening products is frequently the same: either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. The strengths usually differ though.

This is one of the reasons why professional teeth whitening costs more. That and the unbelievable fees that dentists charge per hour. Even if you buy home teeth whitening products from your dentist, you will discover that there is a huge mark-up. For instance, a teeth whitening product that costs $30 in a superstore can easily cost $100 at a dentists surgery.

Therefore, the pros of home whitening are that they are cheaper and can be applied at home in your own time with similar results to professional whitening. However, there are disadvantages as well. Some of these are:

Not all teeth whitening products are suitable for everyone - one man's meat is another man's poison, so to speak, though not literally, of course. However, sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error before you find a product that works for you, particularly if you have sensitive gums.

So, you might find that hydrogen peroxide suits you better than carbamide peroxide, but that a concentration over, perhaps, 10% is too strong for you.

If you use teeth whitening products that have need of trays, you may find that the standard trays of some products do not match your jaw shape. If you still want to use trays, then you can have them tailor-made, or you could try gels or strips instead. There again, you might prefer to apply the teeth whitening products for over-night whitening, but you either snore or can only sleep on your front.

You may well find that home teeth whitening products work well for you, but on the other hand, you will probably have try a few before you find a teeth whitening product that suits you.




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