By Jeff Slokum
There is nothing like a white smile. It conveys to the worldgood health and confidence. There was a time when dazzling whitesmiles were only seen on the red carpet, but no more. Todaythere are literally hundreds of tooth whiteners available on themarket. These products range in price from several dollars up tohundreds of dollars. You can have teeth whitening done by thedentist in his office in about one hour, or you can buy a teethwhitening system from your dentist to use at home. In officelaser tooth whitening can cost $600.00 for one session. If youdon't have a bundle of money to spend and you don't have to seethe results immediately, then whitening your teeth at home maybe for you. The most popular in home teeth whitening systems aretray based systems.
Your dentist will perform a thorough examination of you teethand gums before starting your teeth whitening treatment. He'llwant to make sure your teeth and gums are healthy, which willhelp to cut down on potentially painful side effects. If youhave receding gums you are at more of a risk to suffer from gumtenderness when using a tray treatment.
You will need to decide if you're going to whiten both upper andlower teeth. If you only have one dental tray made the price ismuch lower than if you have two made. It's best to go ahead andwhiten both at the same time. You don't want to have a set ofbrilliant white top teeth and dingy yellow bottom teeth - not agood look. Your dentist will also advise you that any dentalrestorations you may have will not whiten. If there is anobvious noticeable difference you may have opt to have therestoration replaced once the desired level of whitening hasbeen achieved.
In order to help you see your progress your dentist willdetermine your current tooth shade on a chart. This way when youreturn for a check up you'll be able to see how much whiter yourteeth are. Your dentist will take an impression of your upperand lower teeth. These impressions will be turned into clearsoft flexible plastic trays. These trays will be trimmed so theycover each tooth, but not the gum line.
When you see your dentist and are given the trays, generally afew days after the impressions are made, the dentist will makesure the impressions fit well and are comfortable. He or shewill give you the 10% carbamide peroxide gel to use in thetrays. They'll also show you how to put the gel in the tray andhow to avoid getting excess gel on your gums.
Your dentist will give you instructions on how long to wear thetrays. Some dentists recommend not wearing them for longer thanfour hours to minimize potential gum tenderness. Some people areable to wear them overnight. It is suggested that if you can'twear your tray for at least four hours you don't. Less than fourhours is a waste of the gel.
Studies have shown that the effects of the tray based teethwhitening can last from one to three years although some peopledo occasional touch ups to help keep their teeth as white aspossible
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