By: Sandy Huyton - Health & Beauty Consultant
- How does it work?
- Will it have any adverse affect on my teeth?
WHITENING of the teeth is otherwise known as bleaching. It could be that you have chosen to sit in your dentist’s chair for a one hour bleaching session or you have purchased a home use bleaching kit bought at your local chemist.
It’s interesting that only 15% of the population have tried this cosmetic procedure, mainly down to the fact that people are very unsure of the long-term effect it may have on their teeth.
Let;’s face it - is it OK to bleach the enamel on our teeth? Any product that cleans like a toothpaste is considered a “whitener” - it sounds better than bleaching. Ultimately, it rids the enamel surface of the stains and discolouration which occurs every day.
Household bleach is typically hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide
- but these should never ever be applied to your teeth.
Whitening of the teeth should only ever be considered in adulthood when over the years the enamel has discoloured due to the effects of chewing, gnashing and acid attacks caused by activities such as drinking tea, coffee or alcohol.
When we chew our food the dentin (the tooth’s yellow coloured core
material) remains intact while millions of micro cracks occur within the enamel. It is these cracks, as well as the spaces between the crystalline enamel rods, which gradually fill up with stains and debris. Consequently, as we get older our teeth become more yellow because the dentin in our teeth becomes more exposed.
Due to years of wear and tear on the enamel surface our teeth lose their youthful pearly white appearance and are replaced with a dull and off-white appearance, sometimes turning brown or yellow - or even green!
There are two types of tooth stain. Extrinsic stains (external) are those which appear on the surface of the teeth as a result of being exposed to dark coloured beverages, foods and tobacco and day-to-day wear and tear.
Persistent extrinsic stains can be engrained if they are never dealt with. Intrinsic stains are those formed on the inner core of teeth (?). These result from trauma, ageing, exposure to minerals
(tetracycline) during tooth formation and/or excessive ingestion of fluoride.
It was believed years ago that these stains could never be removed but today cosmetic dentistry experts believe that deep set intrinsic stains can now be removed with supervised ‘take home’ teeth whitening kits. or teeth whitening at your dental practice.
Depending on how bad the problem is, a course of treatment can take just one session or perhaps a series of visits to treat the stains.
For any further information on teeth whitening contact your local dentist or contact Abbey Dental on 823040.
