Teeth Whitening / Bleaching

There are a wide variety of tooth bleaching products available to you as a consumer, both from your dentist and also over-the-counter (i.e. drug stores). You might assume that any tooth whitener available has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") but this is not the case. The FDA does not categorize tooth whiteners as "drugs" and therefore it does not regulate them.

The American Dental Association (the "ADA") has established a set of guidelines for tooth whiteners. These guidelines set standards for both safety and effectiveness. A manufacture can, at their own effort and expense, present to the ADA the results of their product's research and clinical trials. If the ADA finds that the criteria of their guidelines have been met by this data they will issue to the manufacturer, for that specific product, the ADA's "Seal of Acceptance". Since earning the ADA's seal is expensive and time consuming for a manufacturer, and of course totally optional, it clearly demonstrates the company's commitment towards creating a quality product.

In the case of at home tooth whiteners, the ADA's seal indicates that, when used as directed, a tooth whitener is not harmful to either teeth or the soft tissues of the mouth, and also that it will effectively whiten teeth. Additionally, the manufacturers of products receiving the ADA's seal are not allowed to make claims about their product which are not supported by research or else they will loose the seal. Those manufacturers who have earned the ADA's seal typically display it prominently on their product's packaging.

You may discover that the product your dentist has chosen for your use has not been granted the ADA's seal. There can be good reasons for this:

• As we all know, many products are manufactured as "generic equivalents". It is very possible that your dentist has reviewed the literature detailing the properties of the product they have dispensed to you and are satisfied that it is appropriate for your use. As you might expect with a generically equivalent product, it's manufacturer might not seek the ADA's seal as a way of minimizing the expense of bringing their product to market.
• The product you are using may contain more than 10% carbamide peroxide. As a result of their clinical experience and what they have read in the dental literature, your dentist may feel that a whitener with greater than 10% carbamide peroxide is indicated and appropriate for your use. In a case such as this, you should feel free to quiz your dentist so they can relate their specific thoughts and rational to you.

Facts you should know about "at home" tooth bleaching products:

• The only at home tooth whiteners which have yet been able to earn the ADA's "Seal of Acceptance" are dentist dispensed products. No over-the-counter products (such as those sold in your local store) currently have earned the ADA's seal.
• The active ingredient contained in all of the at home tooth whiteners which have earned the ADA's seal, and the compound which has been evaluated in the vast majority of at home bleaching studies, is carbamide peroxide at a concentration of 10%. The active ingredient found in most over-the-counter at home bleaching products is not carbamide peroxide but instead hydrogen peroxide.

While your dentist cannot know beforehand the precise level of whitening results you will achieve or how long it will take to realize them, they should be able to give you a general idea of what changes might be possible based on their experiences with other patients. To help you understand what types of results you will probably be able to obtain, some dentists will use a computer imaging system to illustrate for you the degree of whitening they think is likely.

The at home teeth whitening method can usually be expected to make at least some improvement in shade for teeth found in all of the categories discussed above, however certain types of tooth darkness will be more resistant to whitening than others. Additionally, the results a person is able to obtain, and the time it takes to achieve them, will be dependent on their degree of compliance with their dentist's instructions.

Those people who feel that they were pleased with the shade of their teeth when they were younger but now, at an older age, have found that their teeth have yellowed somewhat will most likely find the results of the at home teeth whitening method very satisfactory. This type of staining, which is often due to exposure to chromogenic agents such as tea and coffee, is commonly resolved by two to six weeks of bleaching. Fairly dark tooth staining which has been caused primarily by a person's smoking might take upwards of three months of treatment to successfully whiten.

Most General Dentists provide teeth whitening services and will be happy to provide more information for you.