You want to have a dazzling smile and you want to get it easily and quickly. The over the counter teeth whitening products are the optimal solution. They are easily accessible and inexpensive. However, it is worth asking how effective these products are.
1. Teeth Whitening Gel
Teeth Whitening Gel is the most important part of your whitening kit as it contains the formula which whitens your teeth. The better the quality of your teeth whitening gel, the more success you will have with your teeth whitening procedure.
If you are looking for a good over the counter teeth whitening system for some time now you have undoubtedly come across many different teeth whitening gels. They mainly differ in the components and strength of the bleaching agent used. Bare in mind that when it comes to teeth whitening gels, the stronger gel is not always the better gel. Actually, if the whitening gel is too strong it can cause many side effects including white gums and destroyed teeth enamel.
2. Application Unit
Application unit is simply the means of applying the teeth whitening gel to your teeth. The most popular whitening units are whitening trays (make sure you get high quality tray to prevent gel spillage in your mouth), whitening pens and teeth whitening strips. We will discuss all these application units below.
3. Teeth Whitening After Care
Since Carbamide Peroxide from the whitening gel works actively on your teeth enamel it is not uncommon after the teeth whitening treatment that you experience tooth sensitivity and tooth acke when exposed to hot or cold foods or drinks. This is why you should look for teeth whitening solutions that provide after care treatment for your whitened teeth
The whitening toothpastes are the most widely available products. Despite the variety of brands available, all of toothpastes contain either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. These are mild abrasives, but not bleaching agents. The other reason why whitening toothpastes are not the winning solution when it comes to choosing the best over the counter teeth whitening products is because they are not exposed to your teeth for long enough. You brush your teeth twice a day for two or three minutes and that is all the time whitening toothpaste has to make some effect on your teeth. That is not enough time even for some strong teeth bleaching products. They can make your teeth lighter by one shade, provided that you use the toothpaste to wash your teeth twice daily.
You can also use a teeth whitening mouth rinse. These have gained some popularity recently, but the reality is that they are not much more different than the toothpastes. You can see results in three months provided that you rinse your mouth twice daily, but you can expect one to two shade whitening at most. In addition, there are strong indications that rinses are not particularly effective because of the way they are used.
The whitening strips also have active ingredients based on peroxides. Whitening strips have a stronger bleaching effect however. If you are wondering what whitening strips are, they are made of flexible plastic which is coated on one side with a 6 to 10% hydrogen-peroxide bleach.
The bleach is pressed against your upper and lower teeth and it must stay pressed for half an hour twice a day. This procedure of this over the counter teeth whitening product lasts for 7 to 14 days but can be repeated. As long as you follow the instructions for use, you should see your teeth becoming whiter after a few days of treatment. You can get a two or three times lighter shade after some four months of treatment. These products work relatively well, but they take very long to take effect. It is important to add that because of the way whitening strips are shaped, they can’t effectively cover the entire surface of your teeth which sometimes results in less than anticipated whitening effects.
The tray-based teeth whiteners seem to be the in the top of most effective over the counter products. The way they work is that you place the tray in your mouth which is injected with the peroxide based bleaching agents which are applied directly to the teeth. The results usually come quite fast, depending on the level of whitening that you want. Be cautious though, the stronger the whitening level the more danger for your teeth to become sensitive (hot-cold). High bleaching is not advisable for people already suffering from sensitive teeth.
Regarding the whitening trays you can use there are basically two choices. There are regular, rather affordable boil and bite whitening trays which you boil in the water till they become soft after which you place them in your mouth and bite on them. They take partial shape of your mouth which most usually results in bleaching gel spillage into your mouth and gums. This can result in temporary or even long term gum bleaching.
This is the reason, if you decide upon this over the counter teeth whitening solution, you should consider acquiring custom-fitting tray which is essential to minimize the bleaching leakage in your mouth. Custom fitting teeth whitening trays also fit much tighter to your teeth which in turns bring much faster and better teeth whitening results. You can have your dentist make your custom fitting tray if he has the proper equipment or, if not, you can look for various online specialists who are providing this service.
Regardless of the tray you use, the most important part of this over the counter teeth whitening program is the gel use. The teeth whitening gel is the one doing all the whitening work so you need to make sure that you get the very best whitening gel available. Again, even though it will take longer time, if you have sensitive teeth, go with the lighter bleaching solution.
The newest hit in over the counter teeth whitening systems are teeth whitening pens. The reason why teeth whitening pens are such a hit today is because they are easy to apply, it takes 30 seconds to use them, and, most importantly, they work!
Teeth whitening pens, besides being so convenient to use are also very safe and can be applied to extremely sensitive teeth. This is because this over the counter teeth whitening solution has just the right amount of bleach needed to be safe and to successfully whiten your teeth without damaging the enamel.
Applying it is really simple as it comes in a form of click pen applicator so basically anyone can use it. With a little practice it can even be applied in a car. Another big advantage of this over the counter teeth whitening product is that it dries really quickly. That’s another reason why you can really put it in your pocket or purse and apply it whenever you feel the need.
For best results apply the teeth whitening pen for 30 seconds, two times a day for the first two weeks. It will get you 2-4 shades whiter. Depending on the whiteness of your teeth, you may use the whitening per whenever you feel the need or whenever you desire.
When applying the pen, you will immediately see the color difference in your teeth but don’t expect 5 shades whiter instantly. You can get as much as 8 shades whiter teeth when sticking to the product recommendation usage and you can do it in the fairly fast time period. But, as I said, you will instantly feel much better about your teeth even after the first application.
Hopefully this has cleared up some of the common question about over the counter teeth whitening products and will help you choose the over the counter teeth whitening solution right for you.