Dental Care: Pluses and Minuses of Bleaching

Over the last five years, teeth whitening and bleaching procedure demands have grown over 300%! However, this is not a new concept.

The practice of teeth whitening actually began around 4000 years ago with the ancient Egyptians. White teeth were considered a mark of beauty and a sign of wealth. They created a whitening paste using ground up pumice stone, mixed in wine vinegar. While this sounds terrible, it isn’t the most disgusting thing ever used for teeth whitening. Ancient Romans actually whitened their teeth using urine! The ammonia in the urine served the purpose, and there are still products on the market today that contain ammonia.

During the 17th century, barbers served a dual purpose; they were the one to see for hair and teeth. They would actually perform tooth extractions and whitening (as well as a haircut, of course). The barber would file down the teeth and apply an acid that would whiten them. While this method did make the teeth whiter, it also led to tooth decay because of the erosion of the tooth enamel. However, people considered it so important to have a great smile and white teeth that this practice continued until the 18th century.

Thank goodness we are more developed today and don’t have to rely on the primitive methods of teeth whitening. Today, there are a number of different ways to whiten your teeth. There are two main choices; professional bleaching or at-home-tray whitening systems, neither of which uses bleach.

Professional bleaching requires visiting a dentist and is referred to as chair-side bleaching. It can be done in either of two ways; a strong bleaching agent alone, or in combination with a light or laser. With both, the dentist first cleans your teeth with a sandy, pumice-like material to remove plaque and clean the tooth surface. Then a peroxide-based gel is applied. Most gels are self-activating but some require the use of a light or laser. The light does not whiten teeth but merely initiates the chemical reaction in the gel. The procedure takes about an hour and a half and offers immediate results, although it may take more than one session to achieve the desired bleaching affect. The cost ranges from $400-$600 per session.

At-home-tray methods require a fitted bleaching tray to hold the gel against the teeth. In the past, these trays were fabricated only by a dentist. Today, however, they can be purchased via the internet. You take the mold of your teeth and mail it to a dental lab that makes the mold and mails it back to you. This usually takes about two to three weeks. Alternately, you can bypass the wait time by using a boil-n-bite tray. You mold the trays, against the teeth, after softening them in boiling water.

There are also tray less over-the-counter options available. These include Crest Tooth Whitening Strips, Colgate Simply White, and Britesmile Whitening Pen. As you can imagine, these are the least expensive of the available options.

All bleaching gel causes some degree of tooth sensitivity, usually to hot or cold fluids and air. This is a normal side effect and usually disappears within one to seven days after completing the bleaching procedure.

It is important to note that bleaching agents used to whiten teeth will only work on natural tooth surfaces. This means that all dental work such as bonding, veneers, crowns or caps and bridges will NOT bleach or whiten. You would therefore need to replace all dental work to match the newly whitened teeth.

Never before has there been such a variety of whitening options available as there is today. All the bleaching gels mentioned here work; some just get you there faster. Ultimately, the choice is really a personal one.