Cosmetic Dental Care And Teeth Whitening - DentalChat
Cosmetic dentistry is not recognized as a dental specialty by the American Dental Association - though many dentists who have attained extra dental training in cosmetic dental care, consider themselves as cosmetic dentists. There are groups of dentists who are part of various cosmetic dental care associations. As we know, how people look is very important to many people. Many people just do not want functioning teeth, they want nice looking teeth as well.
Cosmetic Dental Care Blog, Teeth Whitening Information Chatting, Teeth Whitening Chat Online:
Teeth Whitening Discussion Online: A Comparison of At Home Teeth Whitening and In-Office Teeth Whitening Procedures:
We get many people asking us at DentalChat - how can I get my teeth whiter or how
can I remove my teeth stains? Here are some suggestions, that may or may not work. The reasons they may not work is because some teeth stains have become ingrained into the teeth. So, though most of the stain may come out - some may still remain.
Teeth Sensitivity
One note - if have any person has sensitive teeth or have a sensitive tooth, bleaching or whitening may possibly actually make it worse. Good to have it looked at by a dentist and have it taken care of before starting teeth whitening. Some teeth whitening or teeth bleaching procedures may cause tooth sensitivity or cause a person to have sensitive teeth / a
sensitive tooth.
Having a bright white smile
If you’re reading this article, you are probably like me – someone, who is concerned about their health and appearance. The appearance and color of your smile are one of the things people notice right away. Keep reading to learn more about options for improving your smile. Always, use common sense and check with your dentist if having tooth pain or discomfort. Human teeth are naturally a white or ivory color due to the deposits of minerals that make up the tooth.
Women have teeth that are slightly smaller and whiter than men. The outer layer of the tooth is made of enamel, which is the hardest material in the human body. The enamel is formed while the tooth is growing inside the gums and when the tooth pops through it is fully formed. The enamel doesn’t have nerves or blood vessels and has a limited capacity for repair and regrowth. Human saliva is mineral rich, containing calcium, phosphate, and fluoride which help repair the enamel each day. A diet high in sugar or acidic foods can lead to quicker wearing away of the enamel.
The enamel will also wear away with age. The color or whiteness of your teeth can be affected by a number of different behaviors that you can control. Primarily, proper dental hygiene is extremely important. In addition to brushing at least twice per day and flossing regularly, everyone should have their teeth professionally cleaned twice a year. Buildups of plaque under and around the gum line will cause permanent damage to your teeth that whitening procedures won’t fix. Tooth decay will cause the inside of the tooth to decay and darken the tooth from the inside out.
Foods That Can Stain Teeth
Your teeth can be stained by a number of foods and chemicals. First and foremost is tobacco. Both smoking cigarettes and using chewing tobacco can cause a yellow, brown or black stain to appear on the teeth. This builds up slowly over time and will re-occur after whitening if you continue to use tobacco products. Other things that are well known to cause staining of the teeth include red wine, soda, coffee, tea, and brightly colored energy drinks.
Some medications and dental procedures can leave your teeth in a condition that makes them more susceptible to staining, so you should get advice from your dentist or doctor if you have concerns. Maintaining good oral hygiene of tooth brushing twice a day and flossing daily, can help reduce teeth stains and maintain good oral health. Of course, getting regular dental prophy at the dental office is important as well.
Teeth Whitening Procedures
Teeth whitening is a procedure done at the dentist’s office or at home. Imagine a room in your house with brightly painted white walls. Over time the walls become less bright and vibrant due to both a gradual yellowing of the paint from age and sunlight as well as a buildup of dust, dirt, fingerprints and other smudges and stains.
The best way to restore the bright walls would be a combination of treatments – both cleaning all of the stains and buildup as well as rejuvenating the underlying paint. A teeth whitening program works the same way. Dentists have a color scale with 16 different shades. A professional whitening regime will generally whiten the teeth between 2 and 7 shades.
Most home treatment options will whiten teeth 1-2 shades. Before performing a teeth whitening procedure the dentist needs to do a thorough assessment of your teeth and mouth. This includes reviewing other medical problems, medications, allergies, etc. The dentist should examine the teeth and possibly perform x-rays to look inside the teeth for decay or other problems.
Stains on the enamel can be removed in your dentist’s office with a variety of tools and techniques. After a thorough cleaning, the dentist can use a special toothpaste, polishing or microabrasion to remove any buildup on the outside of the tooth.
After the surface stains are removed the dentist will use a bleaching agent to remove stains which have penetrated into the inner layer, or dentin of the tooth. This bleaching agent is usually hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide (a powder which turns into hydrogen peroxide, when added to water) on the teeth.
These bleaching agents penetrate inside the tooth and cause a whitening effect. The concentration of the chemicals and the amount of time they should be left in contact with the teeth is determined by the dentist or hygienist. Too much bleaching (both in quantity and length of time) can lead to wearing away the enamel, increasing the risk of tooth decay and can make your teeth extremely sensitive. Bleaching is most effective on teeth that are yellowish colored from deep stains, rather than grayish tooth color, which is usually due to decay.
There are a number of other treatments your dentist might recommend depending on your needs. These include bonding and laser bleaching. Bonding involves the dentist painting over a stained area and then curing the paint with a blue light. Laser bleaching uses light energy from a Halogen, LED or Plasma light to speed up the bleaching process.
After the teeth whitening process, your dentist might give you a list of foods to avoid since the teeth may be especially sensitive and can be easily re-stained. This list of foods usually includes red wine and colored foods, as well as smoking and chewing tobacco.
Teeth Whitening At home options
If professional teeth whitening is not an option for you, you can try a number of home-based treatments. These generally aren’t as effective as treatments in the dentist’s office.
At home teeth whitening products include gels, chewing gum, rinses, toothpaste, paint on film and whitening strips. Many of the toothpaste recommend for whitening will have an abrasive agent included to help clean surface stains. Treatments with high amounts of hydrogen peroxide are limited to professional use, so many kinds of toothpaste or rinses will have a very low amount and will not achieve much bleaching effect.
Many at-home treatments don’t last as long as professional teeth whitening. Use caution with the whitening toothpaste that may contain abrasive agents, as long-term use can possibly wear down the enamel. Whitening strips are one of the more appealing options available for at home use. The strips generally have a gel or paste made up of hydrogen peroxide, and the strips are placed on the teeth for a short time. The strips will help remove surface stains and the hydrogen peroxide will penetrate to bleach the teeth. Another type of product for at home use is a whitening rinse which usually contains hydrogen peroxide. These products work by both removing surface stains and help prevent future stains.
They can also provide some bleaching effect over time. We have other articles on Dentalchat that you may find useful such as Teeth Sensitivity Pain article https://dentalchat.com/dental-pain-from-sensitive-teeth We have many other dental blogs about tooth pain.
Online Cosmetic Dentistry
In this Dentist Blog, we did Cosmetic Dentistry Chat and Cosmetic Dentist Blog about cosmetic dental care.
We hope you found this Dental Article useful. Teeth Whitening Discussion, Yellow Teeth Chatting, Home Teeth Whitening Treatment Chatting, Removing Teeth Stains Blog, Teeth Sensitivity From Bleaching, Tooth Sensitive From Teeth Whitening Chat, Cosmetic Dental Care Blogging, Having a Brighter Smile Chatting and Online Cosmetic Dentist Chat - and much more can do with us. We are always looking to add more useful dental information on here.
