Tooth Bleaching
Restoring the colour of the teeth is called whitening. Whitening the tooth beyond the natural colour is called bleaching. In general, there are many methods available for teeth whitening or bleaching. Methods include brushing, bleaching pens, bleaching strips, bleaching gel, laser bleaching, natural bleaching and swabbing.
Bleaching or whitening is an ancient invention. Romans are vain about their teeth that they even use urine and goat’s milk to make it whiter. Due to the advancement in dentistry, restoring, whitening and maintaining of the teeth today is easy.
In-office
In-office bleaching comprise of light-accelerated bleaching and internal bleaching procedures. Light-accelerated bleaching is often called laser bleaching which uses light energy to speed up the process of tooth bleaching. The most common energy used in this procedure is halogen, plasma and plasma arc. Internal bleaching on the other hand whitens the teeth inside. Bleaching the tooth inside takes a lot of work. The dentist needs to drill a hole, clean, seal, file the root canal with a rubber like substance and lastly, apply a peroxide gel.
At-home
At the comforts of your own home, tooth whitening or bleaching is still possible. There are commercial products that are intended for domestic use. You can purchase gels, chewing gums, rinses and toothpastes. First, you have to determine the concentration level you want. There is high concentration home bleaching which uses a high concentration of oxidizing agent that can produce quick results. There is also low concentration whitening which is less effective.
Natural methods
The application of malic acid and sodium bicarbonate are effective. Famous sources of malic acid include strawberries, apples, celery, carrots and lemons. Malic acid not only helps whiten teeth but it also helps maintain fresh breath by killing the bacteria. Sodium bicarbonate, domestically known as baking soda can be used as an abrasive teeth whitener.