Despite what the Internet may want you to believe: no home remedy can whiten your teeth as effectively as a professional whitening treatment. In order to brighten yellow and discoloured teeth, you need professional teeth whitening treatments that can penetrate your tooth enamel to reach intrinsic stains. Let’s take a closer look at how to whiten teeth safely.
Why Do Teeth Become Discoloured?
We associate whiter, brighter teeth with youth because discoloured teeth are a natural consequence of the ageing process. When we are born we all start out with white dentin below the enamel but it turns yellow as we age.
Add to this the effects of constant exposure to coffee, tobacco products and red wine that cause extrinsic staining, and it’s no surprise that your smile isn’t as bright as it used to be.
Why Home Remedies Don’t Work?
While it may be possible to make some change to extrinsic stains, home and natural remedies just cannot penetrate your tooth enamel safely. The internet is rife with advice to use ingredients you might have in your pantry – like lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda, fruit acids and even charcoal. But these substances can at best only be effective at extrinsic stains, and at worse, can cause irreparable damage to your tooth enamel.
Store-bought products tend to contain weak concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, which are ineffective at removing stains. The only effective and safe way to get rid of tooth discolouration and stains is to have professional teeth whitening.
How To Whiten Teeth?
When you visit your dentist for teeth whitening he or she will take the necessary precautions to manage risk, ensuring that your soft tissue is protected, and that the correct concentration of teeth whitening product is used. It is the role of your dentist to make sure that the whitening gel is left on for the correct period of time.
By law, only a dental or medical practitioner can administer whitening products that contain more than 6% of hydrogen peroxide, and these are the products that achieve your whitening goals safely, and within a reasonable period of time. Having a chairside whitening treatment means your dentist may use a product containing up to 35% hydrogen peroxide, which means faster results can be delivered safely.
Before your teeth whitening session you will discuss your goals with your dentist, who will be able to show you before and after photos and give you an idea of how long it will take to achieve your goals. In the majority of cases, it is possible to achieve a brighter smile in one session however your dentist may recommend more teeth whitening treatments if your teeth are very stained or discoloured.
In order to be eligible for teeth whitening your teeth should be free of decay and you should not suffer from gum disease. In order to maintain a white smile, it is also advisable for you to quit smoking as soon as possible.
If you’d like to know more about how to whiten teeth it’s time to make an appointment: (02) 8806 0578.
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