Whitening My Non-Veneered Teeth
I have six porcelain veneers, but the teeth next to them look very dark compared to them. It makes it obvious my veneered teeth aren’t my natural tooth structure. Is there a way to whiten my non-veneered teeth without damaging my porcelain veneers? I was looking at using Crest Whitestrips.
Emory
Dear Emory,
I am very glad you wrote. First, I want to say that I wish your dentist had thought ahead on your smile makeover. Most smiles are eight to ten teeth wide. When you are getting a smile makeover, it is standard operating procedure for the dentist to recommend you have your teeth whitening first. This way your adjacent teeth will blend in better with your veneered teeth. It also helps the teeth in your lower arch to match your smile without spending a fortune on veneers for those teeth too. Had your dentist followed this procedure, you would not be in this situation.
To answer your question, whitening your teeth will not damage your porcelain veneers. Bleaching gel only works on natural tooth structure. I’m going to recommend something a bit different from Crest Whitestrips, though. While they do whiten teeth, they will have two big disadvantages in your situation.
First, the strips are designed to cover your front six teeth. As those all have porcelain veneers on them, it won’t really improve your situation much. Second, the strength of the whitening gel you would get from their strips is not nearly as strong as what you’d get from the dentist. Depending on how white your veneers are, it could take you several years to get them as white as your veneered teeth.
My suggestion is that you have your teeth whitening done by a dentist. This uses custom-fitted trays and professional strength bleaching gel. Your dentist can even shape the trays to fit around your veneers.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.
Read More...Whitening Teeth with Household Bleach
Is there any reason why I could not use regular old household bleach to whiten my teeth? I could dip my toothbrush in it and brush or gargle it around my mouth. It seems like a much more affordable option than what they do at the dental office.
Brent
Dear Brent,
Please don’t do this. It is actually a very bad idea. Even though we call it teeth bleaching, dentists do not actually use bleach. Instead we use a specialized peroxide gel. Bleach, including household bleach, is a strong base. If you remember some of your basic chemistry from high school, you will know this is very corrosive, like Lye.
In fact, it is so corrosive that dentists sometimes use it during a root canal treatment. The active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. This can be used to dissolve and clean out all the dead, organic debris from inside the cleaned-out root, while simultaneously disinfecting the area.
If it can eat away and dissolve tissue inside a tooth, imagine what damage it could do to the outside of your tooth along with your soft tissue. Additionally, if bleach comes in contact with certain other chemicals, it reacts in a way that turns it into a chlorine gas, which is toxic.
Your safest way to whiten your teeth is through a dentist with professional strength teeth whitening gel. Not only can they effectively whiten your teeth, but they use special custom-fit trays that will protect your gums and other soft tissue in your mouth.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.
Click here to learn about TMJ Disorder.
Luster Premium Home Whitening Kits
I got Luster Premium Home Whitening. I was super diligent and always used the light. At first, it looked like there was some real whitening, but then my teeth got worse. Am I doing something wrong?
Carol
<hr/>
Dear Carol,
I’ve looked at this kit and I have some bad news for you. The whole thing is a waste of money. First, the light. It doesn’t really do anything. It is completely bogus and is just there to make patients think it is doing something. Second, the whitening gel. Rather than the type of whitening ingredient a dentist (or legitimate kit) would use, it’s actually using the pigment in zinc oxide, which is what they call their super whitener. Unfortunately, a pigment will only work temporarily.
The good news is, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just a fake kit. The bad news is that even though it is a fake kit, there is not likely anything you can do to get your money back. It did “whiten” your teeth, even if only temporarily.
The Best Way to Get Teeth Whitening
If you really want to get your teeth whitened, the best way to do it is with a dentist. Not only is the procedure safe, but it is more effective. You’ll whiten in a fraction of the time you will get your teeth whitened from any over-the-counter kit, even ones that work. In fact, the amount of kits you would have to buy would come close, if not equal to, what you’d pay just getting it done right in the beginning.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.
Click here to read about Porcelain Veneers.
Read More...
Is Premium Home Whitening Effective?
I keep seeing advertisements for Premium Home Whitening. I don’t know if you are familiar with this product, but can you tell me if it is as effective as the teeth whitening that my dentist does? It’s a little cheaper than what he offers and money is tight for me right now. I’m just trying to find a way to have a pretty smile in the budget that I have available to me.
Melissa
Dear Melissa,
The one thing that this product does have going for it is that it is using a valid tooth whitening ingredient. Will it be as effective as what your dentist offers? No. Even if it did have the same whitening strength as what your dentist provided, The whitening trays will destroy any hope of getting the full efficacy out of it. Here’s why.
The bleaching trays that your dentist provide for you are custom fit, like the ones pictured above. A mold is taken of your bite and the trays are made to fit your teeth perfectly. This serves two important purposes. The first is that it will keep the gel on your teeth, while keeping saliva from getting in. If saliva can get inside the whitening trays, then it will dilute the gel.
Additionally, if your saliva can get in then that means the gel can also get out. When that happens, you are losing gel and again lowering the efficacy. This means you will need several kits for every one tube of gel that your dentist provides for you. That won’t exactly save you much money. On top of that, you put your gums at risk of irritation because they are no longer protected from the gel.
If you want to whiten your teeth safely and effectively, I would do it through your dentist. If cost is the only thing stopping you, then I would simply talk to your dentist about your budgetary restraints. He or she may be willing to work with your on payment options.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.
Click here to learn about a total smile makeover with porcelain veneers.
Tanda Pearl Teeth Whitening System
I’ve been doing take home teeth whitening but it has been a bit painful on my jaw. I have been told I may have TMJ. This may be why my jaw hurts when I wear it. I recently received an advertisement for Tanda Pearl Teeth Whitening System. This says it can whiten your teeth in just 5 minutes a day. I’m thinking that this would help with my jaw pain. Is this a good option for me? Do you know if it is safe?
Joshua
Dear Joshua,
I am glad you wrote. I looked at the ingredients and there does not seem to be anything different with this than any other over-the-counter teeth whitening. It will whiten your teeth, but it is not going to work any faster than another product. The light does not do anything special. So, you’ll be working with the general principle that affects any teeth whitening system.
While the whitening ingredient does work, there are some things to consider, especially given your situation with your jaw. The big red flag to me is their whitening tray. This system uses a single tray for both your upper and lower teeth. You have to hold it in place by biting down on the tray. Even though, this claims to require less time, I believe it will cause you more jaw pain because you will have to bite down. So, if that is your reason for trying it I would look for something else.
When it comes to over-the-counter whitening, they all have a common failing in the fact that the tray is not custom fit to your bite. This creates a couple of problems. Both of these problems revolve around the fact that the whitening gel is not “trapped” on your teeth. With professional teeth whitening, the trays are made to fit your bite. This keeps the whitening gel where it is supposed to be. This whitens your teeth more effectively. Without having that protection, you are going to have saliva leaking into the trays. This weakens your whitening gel. You will have to whiten for more days or weeks to get the same level of whitening you could have achieved with undiluted gel. You are also going to end up purchasing more kits in order to get the same amount of whitening.
The second issue with this is that while your saliva is leaking in, your gel is leaking out. Not only does this weaken your gel even further, but it puts you at risk of irritation to your gums.
It sounded to me like you are already using professional teeth whitening, but are still experiencing pain. You mentioned that you have been told that you have TMJ Disorder. However, I didn’t hear that you were getting any treatment for that. This may be why you are having the pain. I would go to a dentist with post-doctoral training in TMJ Disorder and ask them to help you figure out the best treatment.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Gilberto Tostado.
Read More...Tanda Pearly Ionic Teeth Whitening
I want to whiten my teeth but am worried that it will aggravate the jaw pain I have been experiencing recently. I read about a system called Tanda Pearl Teeth Whitening which allows you to whiten your teeth in just five minutes a day. Do you know anything about this? Does it actually work? Do you think that will keep my jaw from hurting while whitening my teeth?
Lisa
Dear Lisa,
I am glad you wrote. The whitening ingredient itself is legitimate. It will whiten your teeth. That much is good. I do have a couple of concerns though. First, the supposed ionic light. It is nothing and is there, in my opinion, only for psychological reasons. To me, that says something negative about the company. Second, is the whitening trays they use.
If you were to get teeth whitening done by your dentist, they would make you custom-fitted teeth whitening trays. This will keep the whitening gel in the trays and your saliva out. The trays provided by this kit will do neither. Because they are DIY in their fit, that means you will end up having some of your saliva seep into your tray, which will weaken the whitening gel. Additionally, your whitening gel will leak out, which not only lessens the effectiveness of the gel even further, but also puts your gums at risk.
There is another issue with their whitening trays. The Tanda Pearl is a single tray that you have to bite down on and keep biting down on in order to keep it in. This will actually aggravate the jaw pain you mentioned. The trays your dentist will make for you are one for each arch. You can wear them comfortably while you go about your day or even while you sleep.
About that jaw pain you are experiencing. This could be a symptom of TMJ Disorder. I would visit with a dentist who has TMJ training in order to see if that is the root cause of your pain. If it is, there are treatments that can help you feel better.
This blog is brought to you by Douglas, AZ Dentist Dr. Tostado.
Read More...