Saturday, September 15, 2007

Laser Tooth Whitening

Laser Tooth Whitening

You see your boss and he compliments your efforts on the success of last week's presentation with a promotion. Your response? A half-smile. You see your crush down the corridors. She's smiling that come-hither smile. Your response? A sheepish grin.

Surely, you don't want to give those two VIP's a wrong impression, right? But what is really bothering you that you can't smile that widest smile you should be flashing them? It's those far-from immaculate white teeth your mouth is "stuck" with.

Have you ever thought about teeth whitening? No? white teeth is not only for celebrities. Everybody deserves to smile that bright smile propped with white teeth. So, read on for more info on this long dream of yours - achieving a sunnier smile by teeth whitening.

Whiter teeth is not impossible, you only need the moolah and the drive to pursue this teeth whitening endeavor. Fortunately, there are three teeth whitening methods available for you to choose from. These three differ from each other in cost and effectiveness.

One way to accomplish teeth whitening is through the help of over the counter products that ensure a flashier smile. See, this is not so hard an activity. All you need is ask that trusty saleslady to give you those teeth whitening paraphernalia. This dental whitener kit consists of a mouthpiece, a bleaching agent and sometimes an applicator. This is a DIY method that could easily be done at the comforts of your home sweet home. This home teeth whitening is carried out through wearing the mouthpiece, filling it with the bleaching agent and wearing it overnight. Availing a fitted mouthpiece is often recommended since it produces better results. A formula that contains 15% to 16% of carbamide peroxide is said to be the safest and most effective concentration to achieve that sunny smile. But it is important to know that some teeth discolorations are more stubborn than other. So, results may really vary depending on the resistance of your teeth discoloration. This kind of teeth whitening method is the least expensive. Kits may be bought with a budget of under $50.

A recently presented procedure is laser teeth whitening. From being first developed by NASA scientists, it has become the favorite teeth whitening method of dentists. Why did it win the dentists' preference, you ask. Simply because it's lesser time-consuming, two hours will be enough for the treatment and no follow-up treatment is really that necessary. Dentists seek the help of a peroxide solution to breeze through this teeth whitening process. Then the whitening process will be accelerated with the use of laser. 93% is reported to be the satisfaction rate for this procedure. And this is more preferred by those who are not into the overnight-long wearing of the mouthpiece required by the home teeth whitening method. Its results even last the longest compared to other treatments. One major disadvantage of laser teeth whitening is its effect on one's pocket. A procedure like this could cost one to shell out about $1500. What a hefty price, right?

Another resort for whiter teeth is through the professional teeth whitening method. This is a system that requires dentists to create a mold of your teeth. From this mold, a mouth guard is produced to custom-fit your mouth. You will wear this mouth guard for some hours a day in a period of two weeks. A stronger concentration of carbamide peroxide will be used as a filler on your mouth guard. The setback of this system is its risk of teeth and gum sensitivity. But it is relatively lesser expensive than laser teeth whitening.

Zoom Teeth Whitening

Zoom Teeth Whitening

No matter how frequently you brush your teeth, no matter how careful you are when flossing, they will still get yellow after a while. This natural process of teeth loosing their bright white color is aggravated if you are a smoker or if you drink coffee on a regular basis. There are several procedures, such as the Zoom teeth whitening method, that can help your teeth get back to a bright new white in a matter of hours.

Apart from the popular Zoom teeth whitening procedure you can also try several others, however, when making the choice, your dentist should also have some advice for you. In general you can opt for an "at home" whitening method or for the several dental office whitening procedures. The last set of procedures includes the Zoom teeth whitening method – let's see why this procedure is so effective.How does Zoom teeth whitening work?This method consists of a mixture of gel and special light wave treatments. The patient is seated and the dentist uses a retractor to separate the lips from the teeth so that the gel can be applied. A special gel is then applied on all the exterior faces of the teeth. The dentist is careful, at this point, not to let the gel touch the patient’s gums too much, as it may cause irritation or lesions. After the Zoom teeth whitening gel covers the teeth uniformly, the dentist will shine a special bright light on it for about one hour. The special properties of the Zoom teeth whitening gel and the energy produced by the lamp produce chemical reactions that lead to tooth whitening. Although waiting for an hour in the dentist's chair for the gel and light waves to take effect might sound boring, it is one of the best tooth whitening methods available today.

How long does it last and what effects can I expect?The answers to the questions are different from one person to another. In most cases, a Zoom teeth whitening procedure is done twice a year. An average person who drinks coffee frequently and smokes daily will have improved tooth brightness - around 10 shades brighter. After the procedure is completed, the teeth will gradually start to regain their yellowish color over time, depending on how well you take care of them. On average, people who went through in office tooth whitening procedures noticed that their teeth stay white for months, although the initial brightness does not last more than a few weeks. The beauty of this system is that it is fast, efficient and has no side effects (although some patients did experience tooth sensitivity for one or two days after the procedure). Overall, Zoom teeth whitening is an excellent choice for anyone looking to get a bright and attractive smile.

Cheap Teeth Whitening

Cheap Teeth Whitening

Your smile is one of the things that makes you unforgettable. You can go into a room and frown your way around or you can brighten it up with a beautiful white smile.

Having the whitest, brightest teeth possible should be part of your daily dental regimen. Using teeth whitening products, combined with proper dental care, will result in wonderful smile. Here is a recommended routine to keep your smile as beautiful and light as possible.

On a daily basis, you should floss your teeth, brush them with a teeth whitening toothpaste, and rinse your mouth out with an antiseptic mouthwash. Once you've done this, you can use the whitening strips, which should be placed over your teeth and left there for about half an hour.

These whitening strips can be purchased online or at your local pharmacy and can effectively raise the whiteness in your teeth by several shades. Using these twice a day for a period of time as part of your regular dental hygiene regimen, you should have no problem achieving a much lighter, brighter smile.

But why stop there? If you came so far, and attained the brighter, whiter smile you've been longing for, why stop with the whitening strips once you've achieved your success?

You can maintain your white smile with lightning gel which raises the whiteness of your teeth by a couple shades, so it is an excellent way to maintain your beautiful smile. The way it works is: you paint the gel onto your teeth and leave it on overnight. Easy!

On top of a daily dental hygiene regimen, you will probably also want to consider cutting out tea, coffee, or cigarettes, as these luxuries in life have a tendency to darken and stain your teeth.

Having white teeth is affordable and easy to do and should be part of your daily dental regimen. In fact, once you've achieved a whiteness you're happy with, you'll find it even easier because the get whitens your teeth while you sleep. What could be easier than that? Next time you have a party or special occasion to attend, make a great entrance and leave a fantastic impression with a gorgeous smile that will draw people's eyes to you!

Natural Tooth Whitening

Natural Tooth Whitening

No patience for bleaching? There may be another way to get white teeth, and it's as simple as munching on an apple.

To keep teeth bright and prevent yellowing, you need to remove the staining bacteria. This is exactly what happens when you chew certain foods that produce a high salivary flow. So, in addition to apples, take a bite out of guavas, pears, celery, carrots, sugar cane, cauliflower, and cucumbers. Another benefit: The fibre in some of these foods physically works to clean teeth and remove bacteria.

Two more tips to keep teeth bright:
1. Watch out for dark foods and beverages. Anything that can stain a white T-shirt can stain your teeth too. That means most varieties of berries, as well as soy sauce, red wine, many fruit juices, coffee, tea, and cola. You dont have to avoid them altogether, but immediately after indulging, rinse out your mouth with water, chew gum, or brush your teeth.

2. Keep in mind that citrus fruits contain acid that can cause enamel to deteriorate over time.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Teeth Whitening - Fluoride Therapy

Considering the vulnerability of enamel to demineralization and the daily menace of sugar ingestion, prevention of tooth decay is the best way to maintain the health of teeth. Most countries have wide use of toothbrushes, which can reduce the number of bacteria and food particles on enamel. Some isolated societies do not have access to toothbrushes, but it is common for those people to use other objects, such as sticks, to clean their teeth. In between two adjacent teeth, floss is used to wipe the enamel surfaces free of plaque and food particles to discourage bacterial growth. Although neither floss nor toothbrushes can penetrate the deep grooves and pits of enamel, good general oral health habits can usually prevent enough bacterial growth to keep tooth decay from starting.


These methods of oral hygiene have been helped greatly by the use of fluoride. Fluoride can be found in many locations naturally, such as the ocean and other water sources. Consequently, many seafood dishes contain fluoride. The recommended dosage of fluoride in drinking water is 1 part per million (ppm). Fluoride helps prevent dental decay by binding to the hydroxyapatite crystals in enamel. The incorporated fluoride makes enamel more resistant to demineralization and, thus, resistant to decay. Fluoride therapy is used to help teeth prevent dental decay.

Many groups of people have spoken out against fluoridated drinking water. One example used by these advocates is the damage fluoride can do as fluorosis. Fluorosis is a condition resulting from the overexposure to fluoride, especially between the ages of 6 months to 5 years, and appears as mottled enamel. Consequently, the teeth look unsightly and, indeed, the incidence of dental decay in those teeth is very small. However, it is important to note that most substances, even beneficial ones, are detrimental when taken in extreme doses. Where fluoride is found naturally in high concentrations, filters are often used to decrease the amount of fluoride in water. For this reason, codes have been developed by dental professionals to limit the amount of fluoride a person should take. These codes are supported by the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. The acute toxic dose of fluoride is ~5 mg/kg of body weight. Furthermore, whereas topical fluoride, found in toothpaste and mouthwashes, does not cause fluorosis, its effects are also less pervasive and not as long-lasting as those of systemic fluoride, such as when drinking fluorinated water. For instance, all of a tooth's enamel gains the benefits of fluoride when it is ingested systemically, through fluoridated water or salt fluoridation (a common alternative in Europe). Only some of the outer surfaces of enamel can be reached by topical fluoride. Thus, despite fluoridation's detractors, most dental health care professionals and organizations agree that the inclusion of fluoride in public water has been one of the most effective methods of decreasing the prevalence of tooth decay.

Teeth Whitening - Enamel

Tooth enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance of the body, and with dentin, cementum, and dental pulp is one of the four major tissues which make up the tooth. It is the normally visible dental tissue of a tooth and must be supported by underlying dentin. Ninety-six percent of enamel consists of mineral, with water and organic material composing the rest. The normal color of enamel varies from light yellow to grayish white. At the edges of teeth where there is no dentin underlying the enamel, the color sometimes has a slightly blue tone. Since enamel is semitranslucent, the color of dentin and any restorative dental material underneath the enamel strongly affects the appearance of a tooth. Enamel varies in thickness over the surface of the tooth and is often thickest at the cusp, up to 2.5mm, and thinnest at its border, which is seen clinically as the cementoenamel junction (CEJ).
Enamel's primary mineral is hydroxyapatite, which is a crystalline calcium phosphate.The large amount of minerals in enamel accounts not only for its strength but also for its brittleness. Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, ranking a 5 on Mohs hardness scale. Dentin, less mineralized and less brittle, 3-4 in hardness, compensates for enamel and is necessary as a support.

Unlike dentin and bone, enamel does not contain collagen. Instead, it has two unique classes of proteins called amelogenins and enamelins. While the role of these proteins is not fully understood, it is believed that they aid in the development of enamel by serving as a framework support, among other functions.

Teeth Bleaching

Tooth bleaching, also known as tooth whitening, is a common procedure in general dentistry but most especially in the field of cosmetic dentistry. Many people consider white teeth to be an attractive feature of a smile. A child's deciduous teeth are generally whiter than the adult teeth that follow. As a person ages the adult teeth often become darker. This darkening is due to changes in the mineral structure of the tooth, as the enamel becomes less porous. Teeth can also become stained by bacterial pigments, foodstuffs and tobacco.

As white teeth are subconsciously associated with youth, they have become desirable. This has been made more apparent with the spread of American culture worldwide, where an especially white smile is coined a "Hollywood smile". The procedure to bleach teeth uses oxidising agents such as hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide to lighten the shade of the tooth. The oxidising agent penetrates the porosities in the rod-like crystal structure of enamel and oxidises interprismatic stain deposits; over a period of time, the dentine layer, lying underneath the enamel, is also bleached. Tooth bleaching will generally last from 5 to 7 years but this is subjective depending on if you are a smoker and drink tea, coffee, etc.[1]

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Teeth Whitening - Endodontic Therapy

Endodontic therapy is a sequence of treatment for the pulp of a tooth whose end result is the elimination of infection and protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. Although this set of procedures is commonly referred to as a root canal, this term is imprecise; root canals and their associated pulp chamber are the anatomical hollows within a tooth which are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and a number of other cellular entities, whereas endodontic therapy includes the complete removal of these structures, the subsequent cleaning, shaping and decontamination of these hollows with the use of tiny files and irrigating solutions and the obturation, or filling, of the decontaminated root canals with an inert filling, such as gutta percha and a usually eugenol-based cement.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Methods of Teeth Whitening

There are two main methods of bleaching. The first involves applying a high concentration of oxidising agent for a short period of time, which is the so-called office bleach. This produces quick results but risks chemical burns to the soft tissues. Therefore, most in-office bleaching procedures use a light-cured protective layer that is carefully painted on the gums and papilla (the tips of the gums between the teeth). The bleaching agent is either carbamide peroxide, which breaks down in the mouth to form hydrogen peroxide, or hydrogen peroxide itself. The bleaching gel typically contains up to 35% hydrogen peroxide equivalent.

The alternative method involves using a thin mouthguard or strip to hold a low concentration of oxidising agent next to the teeth for as long as several hours a day for a period of 5 to 14 days. This is known as take-home or over-the-counter bleaching. This is a slower process but has fewer risks to the soft tissues. The bleaching agent is typically less than 10% hydrogen peroxide equivalent.

A typical course of bleaching can produce dramatic improvements in the cosmetic appearance of most stained teeth; however, some stains do not respond to bleaching. Tetracycline staining may require prolonged bleaching, as it takes longer for the bleach to reach the dentine layer. White-spot decalcifications may also be highlighted and become more noticeable. Bleaching is least effective if your teeth have white spots, decay or infected gums. It is also least effective when the original tooth color is grayish. Bleaching is most effective with yellow discolored teeth.

Recently, efforts have been made to accelerate the bleaching process by the use of light. Studies have shown varying results as to the efficacy of light-activated bleaching.

Side effects of tooth bleaching include: chemical burns (if a high-concentration oxidising agent contacts unprotected tissues, which may bleach or discolor mucous membranes), sensitive teeth, and overbleaching (known in the profession as "over white teeth"). Rebound, or teeth losing the bleached effect and darkening, is also an issue, with some studies showing the rebound effect over 30 days. A recent study by Kugel et al has shown that as much as 4 shades of lightness can be lost over 30 days with light-activated/office bleaching.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Risks of Teeth Whitening

The two side effects that occur most often are a temporary increase in tooth sensitivity and mild irritation of the soft tissues of the mouth, particularly the gums.[2] Tooth sensitivity often occurs during early stages of the bleaching treatment. Tissue irritation most commonly results from an ill-fitting mouthpiece tray rather than the tooth-bleaching agent. Both of these conditions usually are temporary and disappear within 1 to 3 days of stopping or completing treatment.

Individuals with sensitive teeth and gums, receding gums and/or defective restorations should consult with their dentist prior to using a tooth whitening system. Anyone allergic to peroxide (the whitening agent) should not use a bleaching product. Also, prolonged exposure to bleaching agents may damage tooth enamel. This is especially the case with home remedy whitening products that contain fruit acids

Bleaching is not recommended in children under the age of 16. This is because the pulp chamber, or nerve of the tooth, is enlarged until this age. Teeth whitening under this condition could irritate the pulp or cause it to become sensitive. Teeth whitening is also not recommended in pregnant or lactating women.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Today's common cosmetic dental treatment options

Today's common cosmetic dental treatment options include:

Whitening, or "tooth bleaching", is the most commonly prescribed cosmetic dental procedure. While many whitening options are now available, dentist-supervised treatments remain the recommended procedures for lightening discolored teeth.
Enamel shaping removes parts of the contouring enamel to improve the appearance of the tooth.[1] It may be used to correct a very small chip. The removed enamel is irreplaceable. It is also known as enameloplasty, odontoplasty, recontouring, reshaping, slenderizing, and stripping.
Bonding is an option for chipped or cracked teeth. It is a process in which an enamel-like dental composite material is applied to a tooth's surface, sculpted into shape, hardened, and then polished.
Veneers, ultra-thin, custom-made laminates that are bonded directly to the teeth, are an increasingly popular procedure. They are an option for closing gaps or disguising discolored teeth that did not respond well to whitening procedures.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmetic_dentistry"

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Tooth whitener

Tooth whitener - whitening oral hygiene products. Product or system which is used for the tooth whitening.

A tooth whitener product can bleach the tooth, which means that it actually changes the natural tooth color. Bleaching products contain peroxide that help remove deep and surface stains. By contrast, non-bleaching whitening products contain agents that work by physical or chemical action to help remove surface stains only.

There can be two types of tooth whiteners:

Peroxide-containing whiteners or bleaching agents
Bleaching solutions contain peroxide, which actually bleaches the tooth enamel. These products typically rely on carbamide peroxide solutions as the bleaching agent. Carbamide peroxide comes in several different concentrations, ranging from 10% to 22%.
Peroxide-containing whiteners typically come in a gel and are placed in a mouthguard. Some products are used twice a day for two weeks, and others are intended for overnight use for one to two weeks. If there obtain the bleaching solution from dentist, he can make a custom-fitted mouthguard for patient that will fit his teeth precisely.
Whitening toothpastes (dentifrices)
Whitening toothpastes help remove surface stain through the action of mild abrasives, as do all other toothpastes. Unlike bleaches, whitening toothpaste does not alter the intrinsic color of teeth.