Teeth Whitening Professional or At Home? Choose the best for your budget
Bright white teeth, and overall oral aesthetics, are almost a trend nowadays; and with good reason. The first thing most people notice when meeting someone is their smile. So it’s no surprise that many make it a priority to maintain or improve it.
As it stands, there are two approaches you can take to whiten your teeth. You can do this under the supervision of a healthcare professional, usually a Dentist, or at home with a teeth whitening kit. While both of these have the same objective, the process for each is very different, and they can provide varied results.
Note: In all teeth whitening procedures, you must avoid consuming coffee and other dark foods and beverages, and any use of tobacco or recreational drugs via oral consumption.
Teeth Whitening at Home
Accomplishing teeth whitening at home with a kit is a fascinating endeavor. While you avoid a couple of visits to your Dentist, the benefits don’t entirely outweigh the drawbacks. The two main strategies for whitening at home are mouth trays and whitening strips. Both take place at home but vary in complexity.
Mouth Trays
This approach is considered the more complicated of the two. Some of the elements are obvious, but you’ll need the following:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Non-alcohol mouthwash (optional)
- Cell phone with a camera or digital camera
- LED light for whitening activation (comes in the kit)
- Teeth whitening gel syringes (comes in the kit)
- Color guide (comes in the kit)
- Pot
- Mouth trays
Before getting started, you’ll need to brush your teeth thoroughly. You can use non-alcohol mouthwash afterward if you like. Next, you’ll need to take a picture of your teeth while smiling with a cell phone or digital camera. Check the coloration and match it with the color guide provided in the kit. This will determine how intense your treatment needs to be.
For treatment activation, you’ll need to boil water in a pot. Next, grab both trays by their tabs and dip them into the boiling water for ten seconds. Remove them, wait until they’re cool, and place them in your mouth until they adapt comfortably to your teeth. You won’t have to repeat this process.
Finally, the whitening process can start. Add a thin layer of whitening gel to the inside of both trays. Take these and press them firmly against your teeth. Next, place the LED light inside your mouth and press the button to start the treatment. After ten minutes, remove the light and the trays. Wash them accordingly and repeat this process for the next seven to ten days, depending on the color goal.
Whitening Strips
Strips are probably the most straightforward teeth whitening option and a safe choice. There are no visits to an orthodontist, no complicated gear, just you and the whitening strips. If your paycheck rids on your smile, you might want to just head to a professional, though. It’s important to note that you do not brush your teeth before application.
The application starts by peeling the strip from its liner and placing the gel side against your teeth. Keep it from touching your gums as much as possible. Depending on the brand, you’ll be using these once or twice a day from ten to forty-five minutes a session. Repeat this process for a week or a month, depending on the specific instructions for your strips.
Professional Teeth Whitening
Many patients decide against braces and use straightening liners instead, to avoid multiple visits to their dentist. This reason doesn’t hold with professional teeth whitening. At most, you need two appointments for teeth whitening. The first appointment is where the magic happens.
You and your dentist will decide on what color goal you have in mind. After this, they’ll take an impression and create a mold. With this mold, they’ll create trays that will be ready upon your second visit.
Next, they’ll fix up a dental dam that separates your gums from your teeth. It’s not as bad as it sounds. After this comes the application of gel, intermittent UV light, and you’re all done. You head back in about a week for a checkup and to take the trays home. You’ll have to apply a gel at home depending on the Dentist’s instructions.
