Teeth whitening kit. All about tooth whitening.
Teeth whitening kit. All about tooth whitening.
A teeth whitening kit is the perfect kit to make your teeth whiter at home! It's a great alternative to going to the doctor.
In terms of its impact on a person's attractiveness, hardly anything else can compare with a beautiful smile. And a beautiful smile is, first of all, white teeth. But it turns out that white teeth do not mean healthy yet.
So before believing beautiful words in various advertisements, let's try to understand the following questions: what is natural whiteness of teeth, what is whitening, how to whiten teeth without harming their health, what is a teeth whitening kit?
History of tooth whitening. Teeth Whitening Kit
The practice of tooth lightening is more than two thousand years. In order to obtain a more effective result, before whitening the surface layer of enamel was sanded with a metal file, after which a weak solution of nitric acid was used. This method was used up to the end of the XVIII century.
Particular interest in the aesthetics of smiles and teeth was shown at the beginning of the XIX century. The most effective method was teeth whitening, the active element in which was chlorine derived from a solution of calcium hydrochloride and acetic acid. By 1910, all methods of whitening teeth included the use of hydrogen peroxide with a heated tool or light exposure.
In 1918, the principle of activating whitening by means of thermal radiation was discovered, which is successfully used today. High intensity light radiation causes a rapid temperature rise in the hydrogen peroxide solution, which leads to a rapid acceleration of teeth whitening chemical processes.
Modern methods, such as teeth whitening kit, can eliminate or significantly reduce most types of external and internal staining of teeth. The results of whitening are usually stable for 1-2 years.
Main reasons for changing the color of teeth
Natural tooth whiteness is not the dazzling white color that flickers in the commercials. Any dentist will tell you that the natural shade of tooth enamel (the outer layer that protects the teeth and determines their color) is a slightly yellowish or ivory color. This enamel will be the strongest.
Why does it inevitably turn yellow or dark with age?
Colouring pigments of various products such as coffee, tea, tobacco, red wine, berries and chocolate leave their mark on your teeth. Increased fluoride in drinking water can also cause discoloration of teeth and brown spots (fluorosis). Age-related changes in teeth also affect colour: over the years, the enamel is erased and darker dentin (the internal substance of the tooth) is transmitted through it.
In the same way, acid, which is formed in the mouth during meals, destroys the enamel itself, its layer becomes thinner, and over time it begins to flow through the yellow dentin color. This process is particularly relevant for sweet tooth, as more acid is released when you eat sweet tooth acid. Cola lovers should know that this is one of the best solvents for tooth enamel.
Who shouldn't whiten their teeth and use a teeth whitening kit?
People with gum disease, with exposed necks (root areas of teeth) and dental caries. They should first fix the existing problems so that teeh whitening does not cause additional inconvenience. Pregnant, nursing mothers and children under 16 years of age should also refrain from teeth whitening due to the physiological processes occurring in the teeth during these periods of life.
Allergic reactions to hydrogen peroxide, as well as pathological or age-related erasability of the enamel, or deep cracks on its surface are contraindicated.
Methods of teeth whitening
There are two main directions in teeth whitening:
- chemical clarification of tooth enamel with the active component (hydrogen peroxide) under the influence of an activator (light from a special lamp or laser - only in the dental office) or without an activator (both in the clinic and at home). You can buy a teeth whitening kit on our website;
- mechanical cleaning of teeth from plaque using various abrasives - in other words, returning the teeth to their natural whiteness without distorting the color of tooth enamel.
Mechanical cleaning includes bleaching toothpastes. These pastes typically contain solvents or abrasives that remove stains from the enamel surface. These products must meet stringent efficiency and safety requirements.
Modern professional mechanical tooth whitening techniques include the Air Flow method. It consists of removing plaque from teeth with a jet consisting of air, water and fine powder, most often based on sodium bicarbonate. Soda itself destroys enamel, but in this mixture its effect is much softer than even in toothpastes containing soda.
Teeth whitening with Air Flow means removing plaque that is removed and the tooth surface is slightly polished. This method therefore represents the return of natural whiteness to the teeth.
Chemical whitening methods. Teeth whitening kit
Professional whitening in the dental office (technique for "live" teeth).
- The teeth are photographed or the colour is determined using a special palette before whitening.
- The gum tissue is insulated with a special product and the surface of the teeth is cleaned with a special toothpaste. You can perform this cleaning yourself with the teeth whitening kit!
- A bleaching gel is applied to the dried tooth surface and activated by a specially selected lamp light. High intensity of light radiation causes a rapid temperature rise in the hydrogen peroxide solution, which leads to increased chemical processes of teeth whitening: hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen, which penetrates into the tooth tissues and discolour (oxidize) pigments without changing the structure of the tooth tissues. The treatment time is between 30 and 45 minutes.
- Then the teeth are washed with room temperature water, insulation is removed and covered with fluoride-containing gel to prevent hypersensitivity.
Teeth whitening at home.
These methods include whitening with the help of special mouthpieces, whitening strips, bleaching pastes, teeth whitening kit or folk methods.
We would like to speak in detail about such method as whitening mouthpieces ("night bleaching"), as this method requires control of the dentist. The doctor will make impressions of your jaws and make cases of soft plastic on them. These mouthguards are filled with bleaching gel, put on your teeth and left for the night or 1-2 hours during the day.
The length of this procedure depends on the sensitivity of the teeth. Whitening gel is usually less concentrated (up to 16% hydrogen peroxide). Such tooth whitening takes from 2 to 6 weeks.
The effect lasts long enough, the big plus here is that the kappas remain with you and you can use them more than once. With this method, teeth can become more sensitive to cold and heat. Most often, the discomfort associated with this lasts from one to four days and goes away with the cessation of bleaching.
