Welcome to my site! My name is Verity. I work as a receptionist in a dentist office. Every day for the past 20 years, I have come in to the office, worked on paperwork, and greeted patients. I love my job, because it has helped me meet a lot of really wonderful people. I have seen families grow up! But an added benefit from my job is that I have also picked up some small information about dentistry. I'm not one of the dentists, but I do know quite a bit about simple procedures and basic dental hygiene. Hopefully this blog can teach you something, but remember to always consult with your actual dentist for real professional advice!
About Verity Longpar
At-Home Versus Office Whitening
Eleanor Crawford
With so many tooth-whitening kits on the market, you may be wondering why you would ever go into a dental office to have your teeth whitened. While a whitening toothpaste may help to keep your teeth white, you will have more immediate results if you go to the dental office and less chance of adverse effects.
Whitening Toothpastes
You may think that when you buy a whitening toothpaste that it will change the color of your teeth. Sadly, this is not usually the case. Most whitening toothpastes contain abrasives which are meant to remove surface stains. Unfortunately, extended use of these whitening agents can grind away the enamel of your teeth, which will weaken the enamel of your teeth. Thus, you should not use whitening toothpastes for extended periods of time. Some whitening toothpastes will contain pigments such as titanium dioxide, which will temporarily "paint" over stains to give your teeth a white look, or hydrogen peroxide, which will bleach teeth, but only if you leave it on your teeth for hours.
At-Home Kits
One popular option for an at-home whitening kit is a whitening strip. The problem with such strips is that they do not coat the surface of your teeth evenly. So while the parts of your teeth that the strips touch may look whitened, any areas that the strip does not touch will still have a dirty look. Uneven whitening can actually accentuate defects rather than make your teeth look clean and white. You can buy trays that you add whitening agent to, but getting exactly the right amount of whitening solution can be problematic. In some cases, the whitening agent may not cover the whole surface of your teeth, and in other cases, the whitening agent might hit your gums and irritate them. Thus, getting consistent, defect-free results with at-home kits is problematic at best.
At-the-Office
Dentists are trained to use whitening agents that use light to enhance the effect of the whitening agents that they use. In this way, they can deliver consistent and rapid results that would be difficult if not impossible to duplicate at home due to a person's lack of training and the difficulties of applying whitening agents to your own teeth.
Thus, if you are serious about whitening your teeth, then you need to look into having your teeth whitened at a dental office. While you don't have to go to a cosmetic dentist—many general practice dentists will offer whitening—a cosmetic dentist will have more experience with whitening and should be prepared to give you consistent results. For more information, contact local professionals like Smudde Family Dentistry Inc/Meredeth Gray DDS.
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