Introduction

Despite what people may tell you, first impressions count! Studies have found a sparking white set of pegs can go a long way in making a great first impression, which can only help you in your social interactions and indeed in establishing relationships your professional life.

Not only that, but with a clean, white set of great teeth you not only feel amazing, but you gain confidence through the reactions of the people around you and as we all know, greater confidence leads to greater success.

Lets face it. There is tremendous pressure placed upon everyone to look good in our modern, image-conscious society. People will spend a tremendous amount of money on make-up, hair and purchasing clothes, yet often teeth are ignored. Ironic really given how much of a difference a great smile bearing a great set of teeth can make!

There are a lot of elements in our lifestyle that lead to having teeth that are “dull and dingy”. Years of drinking wine, tea and lattes, not to mention various types of food and smoking lead to the build-up of stains on your teeth.

A great many people worry about teeth whitening prices, but I wish to assure you that modern technology has provided us with a large range of options, many of which will not cost you an arm and a leg and can even be performed in the comfort of your own home.

Put simply, there is no reason why any of us can’t enjoy, model-like sparkling bright teeth. So lets look at some of the benefits of whitening your teeth and the different teeth whitening methods.

The Benefits of Teeth Whitening

- Is easy

Teeth whitening is relatively easy and painless, although there are several methods each with their own advantages and disadvantages (we will cover these in turn in a minute). Almost all methods are very easy to perform, although some will require more time and commitment to achieve the results you are after.

- Can apply at home

There are several home teeth whitening methods that you can do yourself. These will not only save you a considerable amount of money, but can be applied in your own time without taking time off to visit a dentist.

- Does not effect dental work

Teeth whitening does not interfere with dental work such as fillings, veneers, caps or dentures.

Specific Teeth Whitening Methods

Now we will explore some of the most common methods of teeth whitening. As already stated, there are a variety of procedures and products each with different price ranges. Generally the most effective of these will require a visit to your local dentist or teeth hyginist, but the services offered by these professionals will not be cheap. The cheapest methods are DIY by nature, require a little time and effort on your part and have various levels of effectiveness.

Over-The-Counter Home Teeth Whitening Products

These are the least expensive, but most time consuming and least effective way of whitening your teeth, but are the solution of choice for anyone who hates sitting in a dentist chair!

Over the years, the only solution on offer to people seeking whiter teeth was to book in an appointment with their dentist, but lets face it. Most of us are not too keen on visiting our dentists any time soon! We tend to put off our appointments and never get the work done.

Over the counter teeth whitening kits will set you back as little as $15 and comprise of trays, strips, pens or brushes. These tend to require more time and effort on your part, so if you’re short on patience, or have little time, these might not be fore you.

A home teeth whitening gel solution can be purchased from a pharmacy or supermarket and can be easily applied at home in your own time. While MUCH cheaper than a dental service, the results are usually very adequate, but tend not to last as long as a professional service. Expect to perform some touch ups on about a four-monthly basis.

Often you can get an at home professional kit from your dentist. If you’re interested in this, your dentist will take a mold of your mouth and fabricate whitening trays from those molds. They will be ready in approximately a week. Once you pick them up you will also be given the teeth whitening gel. To use this you will want to fill your trays with the gel and then place them into your mouth overnight. You will have to complete this for approximately 7-10 days depending on how white you would like your teeth to appear. After you’ve done your initial whitening, you will need to occasionally do whitening brush-ups, but usually your dentist will be able to provide you with the necessary gel.

There is numerous debate about which is the best teeth whitening gel, your best bet is to trial a few different products and see which one delivers the best outcome. Also be sure to tune into our website as we will post ocassional reviews on select home teeth whitening products.

Teeth Whitening Pens

Almost all home teeth whitening products are in the form of gels, what differs is the mechanism for applying the gel. Teeth whitening pens are one of the more effective ways to apply whitening gels, both in terms of speed and coverage as well. Pens allow you to disperse the gel in hard to reach places and give you finer control over gel placement when compared to strips or trays. Whitening pens are not much different than painting a picture really.

Another advantage with pens is that they are small and easily carried wherever you go. You can keep them in your pocket or purse and apply whenever you get a free moment in the day, when you’re stuck in traffic for example.

The typical whitening pen contains a concentration of hydrogen peroxied of about 5.25%. This is a safe enough concentration to remove most stains effectively on your teeth’s surface and also penetrate through to reach the dentin beneath.

Teeth Whitening Strips

Whitening strips contain a peroxide based whitening agent that is similar in concentration to that used in other methods of teeth whitening. The strips are positioned over your teeth and must be left in place for about an hour every day. The procedure lasts about two weeks in total.

Teeth whitening strips can considerably whiten your teeth, the only major drawback is that they are only in contact with the front of the teeth which can lead to noticable gaps. This problem can be avoided by combining strips with a whitening pen to touch-up the unsightly gaps.

Teeth Whitening Toothpaste

Special toothpaste can be formulated with whitening agents that work on the whitness of your teach in your regular brushing routine. Many leading toothpaste manufacturers offer these products. Using whitening toothpaste can be affective, and convenient, given that it fits in with your normal teeth brushing routine, but is less direct and takes longer to work than other tooth whitening products.

Teeth Whitening Trays

Teeth whitening trays are custom fitted mouthpieces that allow a preoxide based whitening gel to be placed directly over the teeth. You can purchase whitening trays over the counter or from your dentist.

Trays work by placing your top and bottom teeth in special “trays” that are designed to fit your teeth and contain a whitening gel forumla, usually consisting of hydrogen peroxide. The tray must be worn for about an hour each day for a couple of weeks and obviously restricts your capacity to eat, drink or even talk in that time. Like teeth whitening strips, trays suffer from the problem of not fully coverying your teeth.

A Professional Teeth Clean

A professional teeth whitening session is by far the quickest and most effective teeth whitening method and you will find, in practice that the color change you get is the most dramatic by far. Dentists tend to use a higher concentration of peroxide gel, and are better equipped to protect your gums an other sensitive areas, usually via a paint-on rubber dam.

A dentist visit ensure high-concentrated peroxide is in contact with your teeth for at least 15-20 minutes in stages that accumulate up to about an hour. Extremely stubborn stains may require a second visit, but this is usually not needed.

The service is NOT cheap, however, with some dental service fees ranging from $399 to $650. The higher concentrated gel can also lead to a little extra gum irritation, but that will quickly receed.

Laser Teeth Whitening Methods

Laser teeth whiting is perhaps THE most fast acting of the teeth whitening methods and is very long lasting when compared with other methods, but is also the most expensive with costs raning up to $1000! It involves the placement of gel directly onto your teeth, then activating it with a specialised laser. Activation vastly increases the effectiveness and speed of the chemical process. Some have claimed teeth is whited as much as 10 shades!

Professionally Made Home Teeth Whitening Kits

Dentists can supply you with professional teeth whitening kits that you can take home with you and apply in your own time. These are like over-the-counter trays, but are custom fitted to the unique shape of your teeth, meaning they will be more effective in practice. These kits generally look like mouth guards and cost anywhere between $100 and $400.

Natural teeth whitening methods

The benefit of natural teeth whitening methods, like using over-the-counter teeth whitening products is that you have the luxury of doing your teeth whitening at home.

At home teeth whitening kits comprise of tray-based systems and might include strips, gels, toothpaste and paints. These can often be somewhat fiddly to apply, as they’re designed for a generic mouth and may not be a good match for the unique shape of your mouth. Always be sure to read and follow the directions that come with the product and have read these thoroughly before you start your whitening routine.

Home teeth whitening kits typically contain a much lower concentration of bleeching agent than professional dentists use in their practices.

When shopping, products that do not have the approval from the American Dental Association (ADA), may be perfectly save, but for complete peace of mind it is always a good idea to seek products that are backed by ADA.

It can be noted that there are still a great many people who shun modern day products in favor of the good old home teeth whitening methods of the past, some will even tell you that the best home teeth whitening methods are the ones that cost you nothing. Although most of us tend to enjoy the benefits of modern day living, those who ardently stick to traditional methods still manage to succeed tremendously well, when it comes to whitening teeth naturally.

So let us share with you a few (oft-forgotten) home teeth whitening tips that can be carried out with items you will likely already have in your home.

1. Bi-carbonate paste combined with water.

You can purchase bi-carbonate soda past from your supermarket or drug stores, but few people realise it can be used to whiten teeth. By gurgling the bi-carb paste mixed with tap water on a regular basis, it is believed you reduce the stains on the surface of your teeth, resulting in clean, white teeth.

2. Salt and Lemon Juice Paste

Some people go to great lenghts to make the consumption of lemon juice past mixed with salt part of their daily routine as it is known to get rid of the yellowish tint that accumulates on your teeth over time. The acidic content of the lemon juice past is the active ingredient, helping to reduce the dull, ugly color.

3. Bay leaves with dried orange peel.

This works similar to Lemon Juice Paste, and you must apply it frequently to have an effect, but this unsual combination acts as an effective teeth whitener.

4. Inner orange peel part.

Orange peel is usually thorwn away as something that is not of any use to us. What is little known is that the peel can help whiten your teeth simply by rubbing onto the affected area of the teeth. Of course getting effective coverage using this method can prove to be tricky.

The great thing about these natural teeth whitening remedies is that they do not have the known side effects with the commercial teeth whitening products. They are also considerably cheaper.

While these may not be for everyone, there is considerable power and satisfaction in applying home remedies for whitening teeth and having them actually work as well, if not better than the commercial products on the market. If you like to DIY and don’t mind spending a little extra time experimenting you could quite easily come up with your own natural home teeth whitening system and not spend a dime.

Try these if you will and see if they work better than the products that you buy.

Side Effects

Most home teeth whitening systems and sometimes even commercial teeth whitening has a few minor side-effects included. In fact, people who suffer from gum problems or with sensitive teeth, those allertic to peroxide or with exposed nevers or roots, children underthe age of 16 and pregnant women should NOT use teeth whitening kits without first consulting a dentist.

Those with known problems should probably look specifically for low concentrated tooth whitening gels. Common symptoms are gum irritations, sensitivity to touch, pressure and temperature, however these issues are usually short-lived. Occassionally you can run into more serious side effects, for instance chemical burns, but this can almost always be attributed to those who do not follow the product directions correctly.

The most common side effect is some slight sensitivity to the teeth. However, you can run into more serious side effects like chemical burns if you do not follow the instructions of the whitening gel.

Conclusion

Having great white teeth, like your favorite rock star or movie actor or actress is something that is available to us all, in a short amount of time, with very little effort. If you choose to put in a small amount of effort, it can often be done very cheaply as well, a small price to pay for the incredible response people have, to a bright smile with white teeth!

We will continue to provide insight and advice on products and methods that can help whiten your teeth and will also post home teeth whitening reviews, for a compreshensive look at some of the most popular products on offer.