At-Home Teeth Whitening vs. Dentist-Supervised Teeth Whitening

There are differences between whitening teeth at home and having them bleached in a dentist's office, including:

• Strength of bleaching agent. Over-the-counter products and dentist-supervised at-home products usually contain a lower strength bleaching agent, with about a 10% to 22% carbamide peroxide content, which is equivalent to about 3% hydrogen peroxide. In-office, professionally applied tooth whitening products contain hydrogen peroxide in concentrations ranging from 15% to 43%.
• Mouthpiece trays. With dentist-supervised at-home bleaching products, your dentist will take an impression of your teeth and make a mouthpiece tray that is customized to exactly fit your teeth. This customization allows for maximum contact between the whitening gel, which is applied to the mouthpiece tray, and the teeth. A custom-made tray also minimizes the gel's contact with gum tissue. Over-the-counter whitening products also contain a mouthpiece tray, but the "one-size-fits-all" approach means that the fit will not be exact. Ill-fitting trays can irritate the gum and soft tissue by allowing more bleaching gel to seep onto these tissues. With in-office procedures, the bleaching agent is applied directly to the teeth.
• Additional protective measures. In the office setting, your dentist will apply either a gel to the gum tissue or use a rubber shield (which slides over the teeth) prior to treatment to protect your gums and oral cavities from the effects of the bleaching. Over-the-counter products don't provide these extra protective measures.
• Costs. Over-the-counter bleaching systems are the least expensive option, with in-office whitening being the costliest.
• Supervised vs. unsupervised process. Dentist-supervised at-home bleaching and in-office treatments offer additional benefits compared with over-the-counter procedures. First, your dentist can perform an oral exam and consider your complete medical history, which can be helpful in determining if bleaching is an appropriate course of treatment based on the type and extent of stains, and the number and location of restorations. Your dentist can then better match the type of stain with the best treatment, if appropriate, to lighten those stains. With dentist-supervised bleaching procedures, your dentist will likely want to see you a couple of times to ensure you are following directions, to make sure the customized tray is fitting properly, to inspect the gums for signs of irritation, and to generally check on how the teeth whitening process is proceeding. With over-the-counter bleaching products, you are on your own.

• Read more at : www.webmd.com/oral-health/teeth-whitening?page=2#3

We know that today all of you want to have beautiful white teeth and that lovely fresh and clean feeling in your mouth. To be able to smile with confidence can make such a difference to the way you feel about yourself. However not all of us can afford regular trips to the orthodontist for a teeth-whitening procedure. Well the good news is that you don’t have to shell out a small fortune once every six months to get your teeth looking almost bleached white. Instead, following some of these tips and ideas gathered together by Ela Gale can save you a fortune and achieve remarkably effective results at the same time. What we like most about this video is that Ela gives you a variety of options. Two months ago we posted a video on how to naturally clean your teeth using baking soda and lemon juice, which incredibly, nearly half a million of you shared with your friends. However we were also aware that a number of you were concerned about the acidity of lemon juice and its effect on your tooth enamel.

• 1 strawberries and baking soda
• 2 baking soda and apple cider vinegar
• 3 olive oil rinse
• 4 rub teeth with banana peel
• 5 rub teeth with citrus peel
• 6 add pinch of salt to daily toothpaste
• 7 eat an apple a day
• 8 add milk to coffee and tea
• 9 increase intake of dairy and other high calcium foods
• 10 decrease consumption of caffeinated drinks

Well while the effect of the baking soda is intended to neutralize the acidity of the lemon, it doesn’t do that completely. As a consequence, we wanted to do a little more digging around, and we really like many of the ideas suggested instead of the baking soda and lemon juice option. Not only did we come across a few surprises, like using banana peel or olive oil, but Ela also includes some great tips not only on how to whiten your teeth the natural way, but on how to keep them white afterwards. After all, in so many instances in life, prevention is far better than cure! So try out some of these ideas and let us know via our Facebook page how you got on. Better still, if you have a home-based tip for whitening your teeth that works for you, why not tell us about that too?

source : http://www.stylisheve.com/whiten-your-teeth-naturally-with-these-10-effective-home-based-ideas/