Friday, January 16, 2009

Tooth Whitening: Side Effects

By Leena Williams

The market, the advertisement & the exposure to media has been increasing awareness about tooth whitening & this has resulted in people experimenting with various kinds of such products to attain a perfect set of dentures. A point, which can't be easily ignored is that people tend to use "do it yourself" products rather than visiting a dentist for a whitening job.

Well irrespective of whether it is the fear of the dentists chair or his fee that keeps a vast majority of people from exploring In-office whitening; products for of the shelf products for teeth whitening are quite high in demand.

The foremost choice seemed to be tooth whitening strips are a popular choice for bringing a brighter shade to your teeth. But as its the case with the rest of the techniques of teeth whitening, the fear of side effects always lurks somewhere nearby. Though most manufactures claim that their strips are absolutely safe to use and any doubts regarding their safety are totally unfounded, the best is to carry out a little research on your own.

Typically two situations are known to often plague those who use teeth whitening strips namely gum irritation and tooth sensitivity. However a close look at these conditions will reveal that extraneous factors apart from tooth whitening strips are responsible in most cases for such inconvenience.

The gum irritation associated with teeth whitening strips is more often due to the soft tissue of a person and its reaction to the strips hydrogen peroxide whitener rather than the product itself. In case such gum irritation is experienced, you should immediately stop using the strip and consult your dentist. With proper treatment, such issues related to gums can be alleviated in quick time. & finally, it's your dentist who is more qualified to suggest the right course of treatment. Once your treatment is over, you can again give whitening strip a try & check whether it still has any side effects on you.

When an individual uses a whitening strip, tooth sensitivity comes as part & parcel in most of the cases. It should be noted that tooth sensitivity thus experienced is not very harsh in severity and has a tendency to fade away with each passing day, especially, when using the teeth whitening strips is stopped.

Surveys suggest that almost half of the people who use teeth whitening strips are prone to side effects. This can be minimized by taking precautions such as using strips with lower concentration of whitener. Also, Trial test needs to be done, which is using the product for a shorter time in the initial period.

Once you have gone through the side effects, it is up to you to decide whether you want to continue using the product or not. If you are satisfied with the whitening result and you want to continue even with minor inconvenience then is advisable to use it at less frequent intervals. However the best approach would be to change the brand of the teeth whitening strip altogether and use a strip that has hydrogen peroxide whitener with lower concentration. If the problem still persists, then you may simply have to abandon this technique of teeth whitening.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment