Teeth whitening is an amazing and relatively new way to give you a brighter and healthier looking smile. The happier you are with your mouth, the brighter you will appear in the eyes of others. It’s not hard to understand why teeth whitening has become an increasingly popular option for those looking to improve the look of their mouth. It’s so popular, in fact, that teeth whitening strips have now become one of the fastest growing types of dental accessories for sale throughout the country. As anyone who has used teeth whiteners knows, being able to mask discolouration and surface stains on your tooth enamel can have dramatic results for the better. However, the emergence of teeth whiteners has many people scratching their head and asking: just how do these cosmetic whiteners work?
Dental Whiteners
Dental whiteners are administered by your dentist, or your dentist provides you with a kit that allows you to do the treatments at home. This provides a much more robust cleaning than the dental strips that you see in the checkout aisle of your local pharmacy. These whiteners work on the outer layer of your teeth. This outer layer of enamel is like a shield for the more sensitive inner layer of your teeth. And, over time, the enamel will actually build up a film called a pellicle film. This film is the result of foreign material – like food – accumulating on your enamel.
To deal with this layer of film, you can regularly and vigorously brush with regular toothpaste, or even so-called ‘whitening toothpastes,’ or your dentist can scrape it away. Another option of course is a proper whitening treatment. Now, the issue here is that over time this pellicle film layer will get into your tooth enamel. This is when the aesthetic trouble begins. As the enamel is porous – i.e. when things can get through it – what are called ‘staining agents’ can penetrate your enamel and give your teeth an unwanted visual blemish. Because this blemish is actually in your enamel, and not on the surface, it can’t be removed with scrubbing. However, tooth whiteners can help get rid of it. This is because they use chemicals that act like bleach to get into the enamel, and trigger a reaction that will break up the stains. The result is the blemish disappearing, and your teeth appearing whiter.