White teeth are a must in the life of the modern day man. But we often find ourselves consuming certain types of food or maintaining practices that leave our teeth badly discoloured. Luckily, today there are highly effective, yet, mild treatments available, which guarantee great results and healthy teeth at the same time.
Discolouring Foods – What to Avoid?
There are specific kinds of food and beverages that are commonly known for their discolouring characteristics. The most notorious ones are coffee, tea and red wine, but there are plenty others that we do not necessarily know about. Soy and curry sauce, balsamic vinegar, tomato, beetroot, cherries, carbonated drinks and fruit juices are all prone to making teeth look darker and yellow. This is mainly because of the acidic features of these products, while also having dark pigments, which can attach to the surface of the teeth enamel easily.
Tooth Whitening – Everything There Is to Know about It
Surely, we cannot eliminate all these foods and drinks from our daily diet. So, besides maintaining sufficient oral hygiene, tooth whitening can be an available option for shiny, bright teeth. This can be done either at home, or under the surveillance of a professional dentist. Both methods use agents that get into the deeper layers of the teeth, bleach the pigments and get rid of stains to achieve the desired whiteness.
At home tooth whitening kits consist of a tray, filled with a whitening material. These must simply be placed on the teeth, usually overnight, and be worn for a certain period of time. Given that these kits contain active agents of a lesser concentration, the whitening process lasts longer, usually between 2 to 6 weeks. The most striking results, however, are already achieved during the first 2 weeks.
Chairside tooth whitening sessions are overlooked by a dentist, therefore, active agents of a higher concentration can be used. This makes the duration of the whole procedure much shorter: after applying the whitening gel and illuminating the teeth with a bluish light to activate the ingredients, only 90 minutes are needed to achieve the final, long lasting results.
It is important to mention, that both methods mentioned above are completely safe, and do not harm the tooth enamel. Nowadays carbomides are used for tooth whitening. The whitening agent of these lets the chemical structure of the enamel reset itself to its previous state after the whitening agents worked their magic. Therefore, these tooth whitening methods are entirely harmless, yet, ensure excellent results. Nevertheless, discolouring foods and beverages are advised to be avoided for a few days following the treatment.
Another thing worth noting is that tooth whitening does not alter the colour of fillings, crowns or inlays. Therefore, the patient and the dentist should ponder beforehand if the new colour would be too strikingly different from the colour of its surroundings. If needed, tooth replacements and fillings can be changed to match the colour of whitened teeth more seamlessly.
