TOOTH WHITENING

Is the process of restoring the natural color of teeth by removing stains from the tooths surface. Whiteners are cleaning agents that can be found in tooth paste and mouth rinses. All whitening products in general work in one of two ways containing either bleach or detergent material that physically removes stains in the outer layers of enamel. Bleaching agents changes the shade of the tooth removing stains from the inner and outer stains. Bleaching teeth are often referring to whitening the tooth beyond its natural color. There are two active main ingredients of whitening products are either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing agent by releasing free radicals that oxidize larger pigmentated molecules into smaller. (Little scrubbers that clean the stains from your teeth.)

Carbamide peroxide uses urea that helps stabilize the formula of carbamide peroxide a more predictable and longer life. Carbamide peroxide breaks down more slowly than hydrogen peroxide. It is more of a time release whereas hydrogen peroxide breaks down is a more instant effect.

Bleaching is usually about an 1 hour session. The light is used as a catalyst that increases the rate of reaction with the peroxide. 3 15 min application of hydrogen peroxide gel is applied, and the light is placed on the teeth after each 15 min period the gel is rinsed and applied again. It is important to know that older clients whose teeth are somewhat gray will not whiten as well as a younger client with yellow teeth. This is because previous placed composite resins will not whiten along with the teeth.