Thinking of Whitening Your Smile? Here's What You Should Know

A dazzling smile represents health and beauty. Almost anyone would love to have a brilliantly white smile. However, countless people struggle with discolored teeth, making a picture-perfect smile a distant reality.

But that smile is still achievable since our dentist near you offers teeth whitening in Fulshear, TX. Teeth whitening is the leading cosmetic procedure that most patients seek after. But who wouldn’t desire to have an enchanting white smile?

Always remember, though, teeth whitening is the icing on the cake. Beneath the bright smile, there should be healthy teeth. This means that to maintain a white smile, you will need to show your pearly whites love each day.

How Do Teeth Get Stained?

You must be wondering how your teeth got stained, especially if you have been diligently taking care of them. Since teeth were designed to be white, anyone can mistake an off-white smile for an unhealthy one. However, here are some of the reasons why teeth get stained:

• Tobacco

By far, tobacco is the most notorious when it comes to teeth staining. It has nicotine and tar, which are very bad for your teeth. Tar is dark, and nicotine is colorless but changes to yellow when exposed to oxygen. When you combine these two components, your teeth will have severe stains.

• Food and Drink

As a general rule of thumb, if a type of food or drink can stain a white shirt, then it can stain your teeth. The most notorious in this category are tea, coffee, wine, curries, etc. If the foods have intense colors, they can easily stain your teeth.

• Age

As the years progress, the protective covering of the tooth (enamel) starts thinning. This exposes the dentin, the inners softer part of the tooth, which has a yellowish hue.

• Medications

Some drugs, especially specific antibiotics, are known to stain teeth if used for a long time. So, always check the labels to see the possible side effects.

How Does Teeth Whitening Work?

Dental technology has made it easier for our teeth bleaching dentist to offer a myriad of teeth whitening solutions. However, the different teeth whitening methods in Fulshear, TX, have hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.

During the teeth whitening procedure, our teeth bleaching dentist will apply a protective gel to protect your soft tissues. Our dentist will apply the peroxide on your teeth’s surface and be absorbed very fast by the enamel.

The free radicals present in the bleaching agent will be released, thus breaking down the stains into smaller fragments. This reduces the concentration of the stain, and your smile will become brighter.

At times, you might need to stay for about three hours for more applications of the bleaching agents. For better results, one application may not be enough.

Ways of Whitening Your Teeth

As mentioned earlier, teeth brightening should be a by-product of good oral health. This means that if you have whitened your teeth and don’t care for them, it would be counterproductive. In any case, here are the ways that you can brighten your smile:

• Whitening Toothpaste

Our dentist can recommend these kinds of toothpaste if you desire to whiten your teeth at home. They contain mild bleaching agents and mild abrasives to help whiten teeth. However, they are not effective when it comes to removing stubborn stains.

• Whitening Gels and Strips

The whitening gels and strips are used when you desire to whiten your teeth in the comfort of your house. You can apply the peroxide-based gels to your teeth using a tiny brush.

Whitening strips are thin and coated with the whitening gel. They are easy to use, and if done well, the whitening effects can last for 12 months.

• Whitening Trays

Teeth whitening trays are created from a flexible material that molds to your pearly whites. Our dentist can customize the trays so that they can fit snugly. The trays can be pre-filled with the bleaching agent, or you can have a syringe that can dispense the peroxide whenever you need to use the whitening tray.

• Professional Teeth Whitening

With professional teeth whitening, our dentist will handle the teeth whitening procedure. This is the best way to go, especially if you have severe stains. The bleaching agent used has a much higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide as compared to the other options.

If you desire to get your smile brightened, contact our teeth bleaching dentist at Smile Bright Dental Studio.