There is nothing like a white smile. It conveys to the world
good health and confidence. There was a time when dazzling white
smiles were only seen on the red carpet, but no more. Today
there are literally hundreds of tooth whiteners available on the
market. These products range in price from several dollars up to
hundreds of dollars. You can have Teeth Whitening done by the
dentist in his office in about one hour, or you can buy a teeth
whitening system from your dentist to use at home. In office
laser tooth whitening can cost $600.00 for one session. If you
don’t have a bundle of money to spend and you don’t have to see
the results immediately, then whitening your teeth at home may
be for you. The most popular in home teeth whitening systems are
tray based systems.
Your dentist will perform a thorough examination of you teeth
and gums before starting your teeth whitening treatment. He’ll
want to make sure your teeth and gums are healthy, which will
help to cut down on potentially painful side effects. If you
have receding gums you are at more of a risk to suffer from gum
tenderness when using a tray treatment.
You will need to decide if you’re going to whiten both upper and
lower teeth. If you only have one dental tray made the price is
much lower than if you have two made. It’s best to go ahead and
whiten both at the same time. You don’t want to have a set of
brilliant white top teeth and dingy yellow bottom teeth – not a
good look. Your dentist will also advise you that any dental
restorations you may have will not whiten. If there is an
obvious noticeable difference you may have opt to have the
restoration replaced once the desired level of whitening has
been achieved.
In order to help you see your progress your dentist will
determine your current tooth shade on a chart. This way when you
return for a check up you’ll be able to see how much whiter your
teeth are. Your dentist will take an impression of your upper
and lower teeth. These impressions will be turned into clear
soft flexible plastic trays. These trays will be trimmed so they
cover each tooth, but not the gum line.
When you see your dentist and are given the trays, generally a
few days after the impressions are made, the dentist will make
sure the impressions fit well and are comfortable. He or she
will give you the 10% carbamide peroxide gel to use in the
trays. They’ll also show you how to put the gel in the tray and
how to avoid getting excess gel on your gums.
Your dentist will give you instructions on how long to wear the
trays. Some dentists recommend not wearing them for longer than
four hours to minimize potential gum tenderness. Some people are
able to wear them overnight. It is suggested that if you can’t
wear your tray for at least four hours you don’t. Less than four
hours is a waste of the gel.
Studies have shown that the effects of the tray based teeth
whitening can last from one to three years although some people
do occasional touch ups to help keep their teeth as white as
possible
Jeff Slokum
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/teeth-whitening-with-tray-based-systems-3287.html