After years of drinking coffee or smoking, your teeth may have begun to discolor. While not necessarily an oral health concern, discolored teeth can make you conscious about your smile and prevent you from showing off your teeth.

Luckily, a trusted dentist can provide tooth whitening services so that you can restore the pearly-white look of your teeth. You can select from in-office treatment or custom whitening trays that you can use at home, so you can choose the most convenient option for you.

If this is the first time you’re getting tooth whitening, however, you may have a lot of questions and misconceptions about this effective procedure. Below is a quick rundown of myths that you can dispel immediately.

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Whitening Toothpastes Are Just as Effective

They’re much cheaper than professional teeth whitening, but whitening toothpastes are nowhere near as effective. The can only remove surface stains, so they might not help much with moderately or severely stained teeth. Since they also use abrasive ingredients to remove tooth stains, they can strip the protective layer of the teeth and make them more prone to sensitivity or even make them more prone to staining.

You Can’t Get Teeth Whitening if You Have Sensitive Teeth

In such cases, take-home whitening trays may be more appropriate, since the patient can limit the duration of use if there’s sensitivity. It’s important to know, however, that over-the-counter whitening trays are nowhere near as effective as those prescribed by your dentist.

It Will Damage the Teeth’s Enamel

Bleaching substances open up the pores of the teeth to allow a cleaning agent such as peroxide to get in and clean the inner structures of the teeth, thereby removing stains. Over time, the pores will close again. As your dentist will reiterate, bleaching does not in any way strip off or damage the enamel.

The Effect Will Be Instantaneous

While effective, tooth bleaching isn’t Photoshop—that is, you won’t always get a Julia Roberts smile in one session. Depending on the severity of your teeth discoloration, it may require a few sessions or a few weeks of treatment to get your teeth to the desired color.

With the help of tooth whitening procedures, restoring the beauty of your teeth has never been easier. If you’re interested in getting this treatment, consult with an experienced Greenville, SC dentist.

Sources:

10 Tooth-Whitening Myths You Keep Buying Into, prevention.com

7 Misconceptions About Teeth Whitening, enlightenme.com