The pros and cons of teeth whitening kits

For those of us who have somewhat yellowish or off-color teeth, teeth whitening kits might be a consideration. It is a simple option, available at any nearby Wal-Mart or drug store that doesn't require a whole lot of patience or visiting your dentist. Many times, the effects of the options readily available to us are quite astounding and help to brighten our smiles and overall presence in a room.

Kits that you can use in your home will work for changing your smile anywhere from three to eleven shades of color. Whether it be in gel form, whitening trays, toothpaste or strips, each of these works in a very similar way and is much less invasive than what your dentist can do with laser teeth whitening procedures (and far less costly).  However, like anything else you're using, you have to think about whether or not you should, if there are more pros and cons out of it for you, or you could do some serious harm to your smile.

A simple solution is tooth whitening paste because it requires very little effort, it's really just about brushing your teeth as you do as always, merely replacing your current toothpaste with whitening toothpaste such as Crest 3D White. The price-point is just right, costing just a little bit more than regular toothpaste (by about a dollar or two), and there is no associated pain or adverse effects. If you have severe discoloration, you won't see much improvement, if any, from these toothpastes, but they have been proven not to affect the health of your enamel, so you don't risk anything from trying it out.


No matter what you are doing, if you're using a medicated or chemical agent, you should always follow the instruction precisely. Have a timer with you when you are whitening your teeth and make sure you do not leave the strips or trays on longer than the instructions say to or you can ruin the enamel coating that protects your teeth naturally. Some people can experience tooth sensitivity where anything that touches their teeth causes extreme pain and awful sensation. Obviously, if you have used teeth whitening methods and this happens, stop immediately and visit your dentist or use Sensodyne toothpaste. You should not be using tooth whitening kits if you have receding gums, sensitive teeth and gums in general, or are allergic to peroxide (active ingredient in tooth whitening kits), but you should discuss it with your dentist before you go ahead and attempt doing so on your own. It is also important to note what kind of teeth you have because brownish-tinted and grayish-tinted teeth do not bleach well and if you have obvious fillings, bleaching will do nothing for their color but make them stand out even more in comparison to the rest of your newly-whitened teeth.

An easy way to make sure your teeth are white is to follow a proper diet heavily infused with fruits, vegetables, and drinking plenty of water. If you drink red wine, pop, caffeinated drinks, or colored drinks, you will diminish the whitening result fairly quickly. It almost goes without writing that if you smoke cigarettes, you should quit for a myriad of reasons, one of them being that they stain your teeth permanently and whitening kits won't do anything for you.

You may have other, associated issues causing your teeth to change color, for example, if you suffer from Bruxism (tooth grinding) you will wear away the bottoms of your teeth and inside the chipped areas  you will see yellowness. You should go see your dentist if this is the case for you so that they will provide you with a custom mouth-guard to be worn at nighttime when you cannot control your jaw's motions.