Teeth whitening – what are your options? In this day and age, looks seem to be more important than ever. This is evidenced by the fact that the health and beauty industry is worth billions each year. One of the most common things that people want to change about the appearance is the colour of their teeth, particularly when there is excessive staining. With so many celebrities sporting perfectly white smiles, this of course has an impact on the overall culture and makes a lot of people feel self-conscious if they have stained teeth. Yellowing of teeth is down to a combination of the natural aging process, genetics, diet as well as factors such as smoking. For people who are interested in whitening their teeth, there are a number of options available. This include
Home whitening kits – There are many home whitening kits available on the market but their effectiveness is questionable at best. A lot of people find that they’re fiddly to use and don’t provide the results they were hoping for. There’s also the question of safety when using a home whitening kit since it’s easy for people to ignore the instructions to try and get better results.
Whitening toothpastes – Another option available is the range of ‘whitening’ toothpastes that are on the market. These vary in effectiveness but in truth, anyone looking to go from yellowing teeth to a sparkling white smile is going to disappointed. Whilst they can remove some staining and provide protection against further staining, whitening toothpastes, in most cases, are not powerful enough to provide the level of whitening that most people desire.
Cosmetic dental treatment – The last, and by far best option is to get your teeth whitened professionally, either by a dentist or beauty salon that has qualified dental staff. Professional teeth whitening can be done in one of a couple of ways. The first is to use bleaching gel. The dentist will take an impression of your teeth in order to make a mouthguard for you to wear at home. You then apply the bleaching gel to the mouthguard and wear it for the amount of time instructed until the desired results are achieved. The second option is laser whitening. Although this technique still uses bleaching gel, a laser is shone onto your teeth to activate the whitening properties and thus speed up the process. This treatment takes around 1 hour.
Is it possible to get teeth whitening done on the NHS? Teeth whitening NHS services are only available when there is a medical reason that you need it. For example, if one or more of your teeth have become discoloured because the nerve has died. For purely cosmetic reasons however, you’ll need to get treatment done privately.