Teeth Whitening – All You Need to Know

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What is teeth whitening?

Teeth whitening is any process that whitens the appearance of your teeth. This may be accomplished by the physical removal of a stain or by a chemical reaction to lighten the tooth colour. [1] Teeth whitening is typically done in a dentist office or at home with strips you leave on your teeth twice a day for a couple weeks for approximately 30 minutes at a time.

What can cause discoloured teeth?

Teeth are a natural shade of light grey to yellow, but they tend to naturally darken with age. Their appearance can be affected by an accumulation of surface stains caused by smoking and certain foods and drinks, especially red wine, tea, coffee, fruit juice, cola, etc.

Fun Fact: Redheads tend to have thinner enamel than other people, and so the inner layer of dentin is more visible and appears more yellow.

Redheads tend to have thinner enamel than other people, and so the inner layer of dentin is more visible and appears more yellow.

Should I Go to a Dentist to Whiten my Teeth?

You may have seen popular products in a drugstore or on commercials advertising whitening strips with promises of pearly white teeth, but should they be your first option when it comes to teeth whitening? There is some evidence that they can actually be more harmful than helpful. According to Dentaly.Org, “whitening strips that contain bleaching ingredients like hydrogen peroxide can cause damage to your teeth to the enamel and dentin beneath the enamel. Additionally, they can cause sensitivity to your teeth and gums if used incorrectly.” [2]

Getting teeth whitening done in a professional setting such as a dentist’s office typically gives you the desired effect immediately, so there is no waiting several weeks or months to get the results you are looking for. Your dentist will use stronger ingredients than the OTC brands, and you can expect to see results in just one visit. Another benefit to getting it done at your dentist is that he or she can monitor how your teeth and gums are taking to the whitening agents and if they feel they are too sensitive to in-office treatment, they have the ability to customize a whitening tray to fit your mouth, so you can take at home to use instead.

Simpli Dental Whitening Services

Simpli Dental offers teeth whitening services at our Regina, Saskatoon, and our new Calgary location. We offer teeth whitening services in Regina for $200 (including lab fee and 3 syringes of whitening gel). The first step is to get a thorough cleaning at your dentist. Custom teeth whitening done by a professional dentist is the best option. Call us today!

Citations:

[1] Tooth Whitening: What We Now Know – National Library of Medicine

[2] Are Whitening Strips Bad for Teeth? Potential Risks and Enamel Damage – Dentaly