A brighter and whiter smile might not be best

In today’s society, people feel obligated to look their best at all times.  They do things like buy fashionable clothing, change their hair color, and even whiten teeth.  To their surprise, teeth whiteners may look better than what they are actually doing to your pearly whites.

There are three types of whitening procedures for your teeth.  There are the brush-on whitening methods where you take a pen with the formula in it and paint it on your teeth and let it dry.  This is bad because it is so simple to have the formula be rubbed off before it dries.  When it finally does dry, it leaves part of your teeth whitened and the other part the old color.

The second method of whitening is strips.  These are stripes that you put on your teeth for a designated time but you must be careful not to put the strips against your gums, because the strips may cause discomfort or irritation.

The third method involves trays with bleaching gel in them. The trays form to the teeth and must be kept in for an extended time. This is bad because you cannot control where or what it bleaches.

According to ezinearticles.com, hydrogen peroxide or carbomide peroxide are used in various whitening products.  These chemicals, if not used properly, can actually burn the pulp and nerves inside of your teeth.  They can also wear the enamel off of your teeth that helps protect them from cavities and sensitivity.

Research shows that by using teeth whiteners, the chemicals can change the color around the edge of your teeth, from white to a bluish-translucent tint.

When this happens, your teeth become very frail and brittle.  People who use over-the-counter products have had complaints about their teeth becoming very sensitive.  Others they become addicted to whitening their teeth and this obsession is known as “bleachorexia”!

Last year alone, Americans spent more than $1.4 billion on over-the-counter teeth whitening products.  This product is the number one requested cosmetic service today.

Celebrities are constantly displayed on covers of newspapers and as focuses of news reports, always basking in the public’s view, looking fantastic in every shot and interview; How do they do it? Only they know for sure but this reporter thinks it may have a little something to do with a bit of cosmetic enhancement.

People are spending thousands of dollars on whitening at the dentist also.  When you go to the dentist to get your teeth whitened you spend a lot of time and money on the same results you get over the counter. After a dental whitening process your teeth will be vulnerable and you will only get to eat the “white diet,” which includes fish, chicken, rice and water.

Using teeth whiteners may not be safe but there are many different ways to whiten your teeth.  You could brush your teeth with baking soda. Others just use toothpaste with whitening in it.

Using this toothpaste is beneficial because there is only a little bit of the hydrogen peroxide or carbomide peroxide in it but not enough to be harmful.

Another way to avoid getting your teeth yellow or discolored is to drink everything through a straw.  This eliminates the chances of the coffee or your favorite drink to touch your teeth to stain them.   Not smoking also lessens your chances of having yellow teeth as well.