Thursday, January 15, 2009

Teeth Whitening: Side Effects

By Jacob Whiting

People have started experimenting with various kinds of products to attain a perfect set of pearly whites, which seems to be the effect of increasing awareness about tooth whitening. Another thing being notices is the fact that many people prefer to use "do it yourself" products rather than visiting a dentist for a whitening job.

This may be attributed to either of these - The fear of the dentists chair or maybe 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.

But the product creating havocs in the market is tooth whitening strips which are used for bringing a brighter shade to your teeth. However as with other methods of teeth whitening, one is often troubled by the thought of the side effects while using such products. Though claimed by majority of manufacturers of their strips being absolutely safe to use and any doubts regarding their safety are totally unfounded, the wiser & smart customers always tend to do a little research on their 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 that is 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 of gum irritation just 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 whom you need to have more faith on 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.

Tooth sensitivity is commonly observed when an individual uses a whitening strip. 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 that have 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.

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