How Teeth Whitening Works – Making an Impression With Your Smile

A smile. What is a smile? A smile opens doors. A smile opens hearts. A smile lights up a room. A smile consoles sadness. A smile brings joy. A smile speaks of loving and caring. A smile soothes the soul. How can a simple facial expression do all that? But it can – it’s wonderful, isn’t it? But that’s a lot of responsibility for just one expression, don’t you think? It is! And that’s why a warm smile is so important. Smiles leave a lasting impression on others. They’re the first thing people see when they look at you. So if you’re afraid to smile because your teeth are less-than-dazzling, there’s a wide array of teeth whitening systems available to get you back to the world of confident smiles. We’d like to show you here how teeth whitening works. Then you’ll know which system you want to use to restore that lovely smile.

What can teeth whitening systems do for you?

First, we’ll look at what people are saying about teeth whitening and how it affects your life. BriteSmile, a company that does professional tooth whitening in their offices, thought it was important enough to hire Professional Polish, an image consultant, to make consumers aware of the impact that your image (which starts with your smile) has on your social life and your income. Jeanette Coon, CEO of Professional Polish, says that image is important as a success factor. First impressions remain with the people you come in contact with.

Jen Cronk, from Castle Rock, CO, says “Teeth whitening is worth its weight in gold. A bright megawatt smile will take 10 years off and brighten your face in an instant.” And people are listening to this. How about movie stars? Dr. Sunny Luthra, otherwise known as the “Grin Doctor”, in the U.K., says, “About 95% of people on TV have had their teeth whitened. I know, because I did them.”

And the value of teeth whitening systems has been recognized in every level of society. In fact, one woman was so passionate about them that, according to a police report, she was arrested for retail theft when she tried to steal $175 worth of teeth whitening strips from a Target store. Perhaps she’d heard that Crest Whitestrips had won Good Housekeeping’s Good-Buy Award in 2003, and wanted to cash in on the popularity. Or that Ultra-White had won the Yahoo! Shopping Top Service Award.

The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry says that the teeth whitening industry has grown more than 300% from 1996 to 2000. It seems that people are willing to spend money to get a riveting smile. So let’s look at what you’re going to spend your money on.

What are your choices in teeth whitening systems?

There are a number of different teeth whitening systems available. Depending on your feelings about certain procedures, you can choose one that’ll do the job with the least discomfort. For now, we’ll just list the major competitors:

Professional in-office bleaching systems – done by dentists in an hour-long procedure. The results are wonderful, but they’ll cost you about $650.
Professional tray bleaching systems – the best system available online. It only costs around $300 – less than half the in-office system.
Boil & Bite tray bleaching systems – at-home systems that work quite well, but are a little more hassle than the ones you send to the lab.
Whitening strips – do a fairly good job over a period of time, but aren’t very comfortable.
Whitening sprays – not that effective.
Brush-on Gels – not much better than whitening sprays.
Whitening toothpaste – easiest to use, but not as effective as bleaching.

So you can see a pattern here – if you want the brightest whitest smile, you’re going to have to pay for it. But the results really are good! We’ll take a closer look at some of the systems, so you can get an idea of what you want to go through to get the whitest teeth.

BriteSmile

BriteSmile is done in the dentist’s office, and they have 4900 centers around the world. The BriteSmile Professional Teeth Whitening treatment is a unique procedure that starts with a consultation and examination of your teeth to make sure they’re healthy. Some dentists use computer imaging systems to show you what your teeth might look like after whitening.

To start the procedure, you lie on a comfortable spa-type bed, not a dentist’s chair. BriteSmile Gel, a pH-balanced, gentle bleaching compound made partly of hydrogen peroxide, is applied to your teeth. Then a special BriteSmile Plasma Light is shone on your teeth to activate the gel. This light is very unique – it’s designed to respond to exclusive wavelengths of light. It’s the same basic process as the bleaching effect of sunlight on your hair, your furniture, etc.

This whole procedure consists of three 20-minute applications. During this time, you can watch TV, read, or even sleep, if you want. It’s actually a very comfortable procedure. And comfort is something teeth whitening systems strive for. At the end of the hour, you just rinse, and smile! You’ll be amazed at the improvement in such a short time. You may also be amazed when you get your bill – the average cost in the U.S. for the BriteSmile Professional Teeth Whitening treatment is about $650. So you’ll have to decide if a radiant smile is worth that much to you.

BriteSmile has now introduced BriteSmile To Go, a little retractable pen that you can use for a touchup. You just give your teeth two 30-second applications a day, and they’ll return to their naturally white shine within 2 weeks.

Bleaching tray systems

Bleaching tray systems are at-home teeth whitening systems, available online. There are two basic types – professional and boil-n-bite. Both systems use moldable bleaching trays. These trays can be custom-fitted to your teeth. With the professional system, you make an impression of your teeth with the kit supplied. All the instructions are there and it’s not too hard. Then you send this impression in the mailer provided to a professional lab where your bleaching tray is made to fit your unique set of teeth, then mailed back to you.

With the boil & bite system, you make the bleaching tray yourself. Again, all instructions are included, and almost everyone can make a suitable tray. All you do is dip the tray in boiling water, wait a moment for it to cool down, and just fit it to your teeth. Fairly simple. Since you make the tray yourself, this system is less expensive so, again, you get what you pay for.

Now that you have your bleaching tray, you take the whitening gel that comes in the kit. Most at-home teeth whitening systems use carbamide peroxide, which is necessary for good results. There are different strengths of carbamide peroxide, from 10%-22%. The most popular strength is 16%. The thing to remember here is that the more powerful the gel (22%), the quicker it’ll whiten your teeth; but there’s a price to pay for this – the more powerful the gel, the more likely it is to irritate your gums. So, again, you’ll have to decide what’s best for you.

How whitening gel actually works with bleaching trays is similar to the BriteSmile system, but without the blue light application. The peroxide breaks down, creating an oxidizing process that dissolves deposits that can cause stains. Remember, your teeth are naturally white – bleaching just restores that whiteness.

You’ll have to experiment at first with how much gel to put in your tray. If you put too much in, it’ll overflow into your mouth. But it’s not harmful, even if you swallow a bit. That’s why the manufacturers of the at-home systems recommend you use them in the shower. Then it’s easy just to spit out the excess gel. Another reason to use it in the shower is that, at the beginning, your mouth will water more than usual. So, again, you can just spit it out. Using the system with your shower also gives you a regular routine of using it every day.

One of the big advantages of the at-home bleaching system is that once you have your tray, you can use it again when your teeth need re-whitening. They say the bleaching process lasts for about 3 years, so when you’re ready to redo them, all you have to buy is the whitening gel.

How much you use your bleaching tray system will determine how long the complete whitening process will take. You can “wear” your bleaching tray for anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours a day. The gel only works for 4 hours, so there’s no point in doing it any longer than that. The full whitening process takes between 10 and 30 hours of bleaching. It doesn’t matter how long you take. You can do it in many shorter treatments, like 10-15 minutes, especially if your gums are sensitive to the gel. Or you can do it in a few longer treatments if you want that white smile sooner. Whichever treatment schedule you choose, the results will be the same – a bright smile!

Over-the-counter (OTC) products

Probably the most popular of the OTC products is the afore-mentioned Crest Whitestrips. And there are other brands, too. You can also get whitestrips from your dentist that they say are better than the OTC ones. But of course, the reason you go to the drugstore to buy these products is because you want to use a less expensive method to whiten your teeth. And that’s ok, as long as you remember – you get what you pay for (there it is again!). What we’re saying here is that these products do work, somewhat, but for the best results, spend a little more money, if you can, for a more efficient system.

Another OTC product is the non-moldable bleaching tray. Although the principle of these trays is the same as the at-home systems, the material they’re made out of isn’t as flexible, so the gel doesn’t get uniform coverage on your teeth and you could end up with white spots. Most experts don’t recommend non-moldable trays.

Of course, the toothbrush has been available OTC for years. And what a great selection of toothbrushes there are! You can get all kinds of shapes and sizes. There are designer toothbrushes for children, with all their favorite characters on them. They have toothbrushes that change colors as they wear out, prompting you to get a new one. There are different grades of bristles – soft, medium and hard. But basically, they all do the same job – they remove plaque from your teeth.

And electric toothbrushes – they’re a wonderful world in themselves. Dentists say that electric toothbrushes don’t do that much better a job than manual ones, but many people are more likely to brush if they have the ease and novelty of an electric toothbrush. They’re great for elderly or disabled people. And would you believe they now recommend them for cleaning your dog’s teeth.

And if you really want to go space-age with your teeth whitening, how about a sonic toothbrush, made by Philips. It’s bristles move 3 times faster than any other electric toothbrush. And faster brushing has to get better results, doesn’t it?

The future for smiles looks bright

Now we know the importance of smiles, we have to decide how much we’re willing to spend to get the best one. That’s something only you can do. What we can do to help you is to suggest you go online and check out all the new teeth whitening systems available. Some of the more popular ones are Salon Smile, Ultra-White, Du-More, Rembrandt, Zoom, Ranir, GoSmile, SuperSmile, Waterpik, Absolute White, PureWhite Smiles – you get the picture. There are hundreds of products to choose from.

But now you know how teeth whitening works, your online shopping experience will be much simpler. And it’ll become obvious to you that teeth whitening systems are improving all the time. And so will your smile!

About The Author

Gareth Marples is a freelance business writer providing valuable tips and advice for consumers purchasing teeth whitening products & cosmetic dentistry, porcelain dental veneers and daily disposable contact lenses. His numerous articles offer moneysaving tips and valuable insight on typically confusing topics.

This "How Teeth Whitening Works" article reprinted with permission.