If you’re looking to brighten/whiten your teeth a bit but feel asking your dentist to whiten your teeth could be too expensive, you may have considered using the teeth whitening products sold in your local drugstore, grocery store or big-box retailer.
But you’ve heard they don’t work.
Or do they?
Americans tend to spend about $1.4 billion each year in over-the-counter (OTC), non-prescription teeth whitening products, so asking if they actually work is a legitimate question.
The short answer is “Yes, OTC tooth whitening products do work.” The longer answer is “OTC tooth whitening products do work, but not as well as professional products used by your dentist.”
The main reason for this disparity is the fact that OTC whiteners have just 10 percent peroxide while the whitening products that your dentist uses can contain between 20 and 40 percent peroxide.
Peroxide is a bleaching agent that removes surface as well as deep stains that have formed on your teeth. In fact, peroxide actually can change the natural color of your tooth. It therefore makes sense that the higher percentage of peroxide, the greater the whitening effect.
Even the “just” 10 percent peroxide OTC products can cause tooth sensitivity or pain, so it’s important to be careful and not overuse the store-bought tooth whitening products.
In addition, the color of the stains on your teeth can indicate bleaching’s effectiveness. The American Dental Association reports that teeth with a yellowish hue or yellow stains are more likely to react well – that is, whiten – to bleaching products than will gray-hued teeth.
Another way to whiten your teeth, one which doesn’t use a peroxide product, is to use an agent that works via abrasion to remove stains from your teeth. Often found in whitening toothpastes, these agents remove only surface stains.
Here’s the bottom line:
OTC tooth whitening products generally do work, by either the way of bleach (peroxide) or an abrasive substance, but because they don’t contain as much bleach/peroxide or abrasive agents, they don’t whiten/brighten your teeth as much as the products used by your dentist.
Image courtesy of nenetus/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Comments