The Pro Tooth Whiteners Say:

Your smile means everything. But years of smoking, wine, tea, strong coffees, lack of proper dental care and other everyday activities have stained the teeth’s topcoat enamel, and ages your appearance prematurely. These visits are fairly easy, last one to two hours, touch ups are offered four times in two years and can cost from $400 to $600. Over the counter white strips are offered. These use a hydrogen peroxide base and take usually a daily commitment to apply. Wait times can range from two weeks to seven days. These hydrogen strips aren’t new; when commercial dentistry gained a foothold in the American health system in the 1930s, most toothpaste was originally a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mix for the general population to care for their teeth and prevent tooth decay and loss.

Whiter teeth can give your face a friendlier, youthful look and promote a healthier lifestyle. It can also minimize wrinkles and boost your self-confidence, leaving you smiling more when in time’s past, perhaps you hadn’t.

The “Donny & Marie Shark Grins” Naysayers Say:

The short-term disadvantage for those with sensitive teeth and gums can have them ache from bleaching or blue-white light whitening system. A gel is applied to the teeth and set in a tray, which is what is applied on the teeth for the whitening process.

Research shows bleaching and laser whitening to be completely effective for three out of four individuals. If serious teeth discoloration has occurred, bleaching or laser whitening sometimes won’t be an option, but is the least costing of the tooth whitening method. One with deep staining may consider veneers or crowns as a more suited choice, but this technique usually offers higher price availability.

Brighter vs. Natural

Many cosmetic dental surgery outlets offer to brighten one’s smile up to 8 to 10 times their current shade, but what level of brightness that’s best for one person may not be right for you. Generally, if one’s teeth go several shades brighter than what one started with, that’s has the most optimum effect and the individual may stop there. Most dentists say the “bright white teeth look” is unnatural and instead gives the smile the countenance of “glowing dentures.” To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, follow your dental cosmetician’s advice in how bright you and they believe you should go.   Wherever you choose to brighten your smile, outlets offer computer generated before/after pictures of what your smile could be before the procedure begins.

“Your Teeth Are So Yellow …”

Your tonsils need shades, the kids would laugh. Tooth discoloration isn’t a laughing matter for some, but it happens as we age. Heavy wine, soda, coffee and strong tea consumption can stain the teeth. Consuming tobacco products, whether smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes or chewing tobacco can discolor the smile as well. Some foods can off-color your teeth also. A third option that stain your grin—and one most don’t consider--are over-the-counter or prescribed drugs with a yellow base in their chemical makeup known as tetracycline. So, even if you brush and floss daily, don’t drink or use tobacco in any form, your bite may’ve suffered off-coloring from the OTC and prescribed medicines with a tetracycline base in them. This could still be in your system—and one culprit playing a role in discoloring your teeth.

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