Teeth Whitening – Is It Safe?

When considering a cosmetic treatment on your teeth, it is important to weight up the pros and cons. Your teeth should last you for your entire adult life, so damaging them prematurely is a real concern. The latest range of teeth whitening products on the market claim to be 100% safe and able to remove stains as well as a dentist could. Before purchasing one of these kits, it is important to consider whether or not the treatment is right for you.

How can you be sure that teeth whitening kits are safe for home use?

Home teeth whitening kits use exactly the same ingredients as your dentist would to remove stains. The Food and Drug Administration of America – or the FDA as it is more commonly known – has certified the levels of Carbamide Peroxide found in tooth whitening kits to be safe for home use. The FDA will continue to carry out testing on these kits every two years, giving consumers real peace of mind. In 2006, the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products also found the 6% of Carbamide Peroxide found in kits to be suitable for use at home.

The kit works by using your teeth’s existing structure to remove stains without damaging surface enamel. The covering of every tooth has numerous tiny pores through which the tooth whitening gel can seep. Once within the tooth, the Carbamide Peroxide acts as a mild bleach, gently returning teeth to their natural whiteness. This process, however, may result in some sensitivity, so to lessen this it is advisable not to brush your teeth before using the kits. If any discomfort does occur during use, it is possible to use a Blue Light unit to increase the gel’s effectiveness and speed up treatment time by as much as 50%. The kits also have a long shelf life and will remain usable if kept cool and out of direct sunlight, so a fridge is an ideal storage solution.

Why should I use the home kits, rather than going to my dentist?

These teeth whitening kits are dosed within FDA and EU guidelines, ensuring that they are suitable for use at home. By using the same active ingredients as your dentist would, the kits offers fantastic whitening properties that are impossible to achieve with conventional toothpaste. They also allow you to choose your treatment time – negating the need to make multiple appointments with a dentist that may disrupt the course of your day.

Whilst the kits will not work on any dentistry such as fillings and crowns that have been matched to the pre-whitened colour of your teeth, it is incredibly fast working on natural teeth. Even with the added cost of having any work matched to your new smile, home teeth whitening kits offer significant savings when compared to similar treatment carried out in a dentist’s surgery. Not only do they offer you financial savings, but also a great deal more personal freedom – allowing you to decide where and when is convenient for your to carry out home teeth whitening.