How to make teeth whiter without harm to health

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We figure out whether whitening toothpastes are effective, how exactly teeth whitening occurs and how much the participation of a doctor is required.

Modern mass culture through cinematography and advertising forms a quite definite recognizable image of success and external attractiveness. One of the elements of this look is the perfect white smile. Is the ideal really so good - a topic for a separate discussion, today we will talk about the whiteness of the teeth.

The modern market for oral hygiene products offers a solution to seemingly any problem. Dreaming of a Hollywood smile and perfect white teeth? You can choose from a huge assortment of all kinds of whitening pastes. The truth is that even whitening toothpastes cannot change the color of teeth - they simply cannot whiten. Why, then, are they needed and how to actually make teeth whiteness? Julia Clouda, project manager, will help us figure this out.

What is the principle of action of whitening toothpastes?

Alas, as mentioned above, these pastes, like any others, are unable to change the color of the teeth to whiter. Any toothpaste has a more mechanical effect on the enamel and very insignificant - chemical, medicinal, and so on. In certain cases, with regular use of whitening toothpastes, teeth may indeed appear whiter. However, this does not happen due to bleaching, but due to the same mechanical cleaning.

The fact is that most whitening toothpastes are highly abrasive, that is, they contain a large amount of abrasive particles. These abrasive particles not only remove soft dental plaque, as usual pastes do, but also remove hard plaque, and sometimes even partially remove tartar. It is due to the removal of stained plaque and stone from the enamel that the teeth begin to appear whiter. However, this damages the tooth enamel: abrasives leave microscopic scratches on it, which can later turn into cracks, which leads to tooth decay.

Is there an alternative to using highly abrasive whitening pastes?

Every person from childhood knows that you need to visit the dentist at least twice a year. Prevention is the key to health. Unfortunately, not everyone follows this rule. And very few people know that twice a year you need to visit not only a dentist-therapist to check your teeth for cavities, but also a hygienist to undergo a professional cleaning procedure. The fact is that a brush and paste can clean teeth only from soft plaque - the one that forms during the day or night. In addition, regardless of the thoroughness of the cleaning, the teeth gradually become covered with a hard plaque, and tartar also forms on them. Insufficiently effective daily oral hygiene, diet disorders, smoking and many other factors aggravate this process.

The dental hygienist removes hard plaque and tartar using special scalers and does this, unlike highly abrasive toothpastes, without harm to dental health. After that, the teeth are treated with special compounds and, if necessary, varnished. The doctor may also suggest a dental remineralization procedure if he thinks you need it. Regular professional cleaning sessions noticeably brighten teeth by removing stained plaque. However, this is not whitening.

How to achieve whiteness of teeth?

It is necessary to learn that only professional whitening is capable of whitening teeth, that is, changing their color to whiter. It is divided into an office one, that is, one that is carried out in the chair of an aesthetic dentist, and a home one that you carry out at home on your own with the help of those drugs that are given to you by an aesthetic dentist, and following his recommendations.

Office professional whitening is divided into chemical, laser and photo whitening. In fact, they are all chemical, since the main active ingredient is unchanged - it is a composition based on hydrogen peroxide. But in the first case, the impact occurs without a catalyst, in the second case, the action of the composition is catalyzed by a laser beam, and in the third - by light. Home professional whitening is carried out either with the use of the same bleaching composition and a special mouth guard, or with the help of bleaching strips impregnated with a similar composition.

Teeth whitening occurs due to the effect not on the enamel, which itself is transparent, but on the deeper dental tissue - dentin. The color of your teeth depends on its shade, which shines through the enamel. Dentin is almost never naturally white. Usually it is colored, pigmented. Its color varies from light yellow to dark yellow, it can also be gray or pinkish. The essence of professional whitening is dentin discoloration.

Algorithm of actions for teeth whiteness

So how do you achieve whiteness of your teeth without harming your health? First, you need to determine the problem: how do your teeth seem to you not enough white? With your dentin shade and enamel transparency, it is likely that professional hygiene is enough for your teeth to appear white.

If, after removing stained plaque, the color of your smile still does not suit you, you need to contact an esthetician dentist, he will select the optimal whitening system for you. However, it must be remembered that in some cases even professional whitening may be powerless. The doctor will warn you about this from the very beginning if, for example, you have tetracycline teeth. If the issue of whiteness is so fundamental, in such cases an extreme measure will help - veneering. Veneers and lumineers are non-removable thinnest ceramic onlays on the upper front teeth that can not only give them whiteness, but also correct minor irregularities in the dentition and increased gaps between the teeth.

Why are whitening pastes needed?

Does it follow from the above that whitening toothpastes are harmful and completely useless? Of course not. More precisely - not all. Some professional whitening toothpastes are able to maintain the effect of in-room whitening and cleaning due to the presence of hydroxyapatites in them - trace elements that help restore enamel and prevent plaque formation.

Also, some whitening toothpastes can help heavy smokers, coffee lovers, lovers of strong tea and red wine - by dissolving a thin colored film and discoloration of plaque. However, only your dentist will be able to find the right paste for you. First of all, such a paste should not contain a large amount of highly abrasive particles. You also need to remember that any whitening toothpastes are contraindicated for people with hypersthesia - hypersensitivity of the teeth, for children and adolescents with a changeable bite, as well as for pregnant women.