Teeth whitening is one of the top procedures of cosmetic dentistry. Yellowing occurs over time and has a dramatic impact on a person’s smile. Coffee, tea and wine drinkers also stain their teeth, causing them to lose confidence and smile less.
While you can come into our office for intense whitening, many people choose to try whitening strips first.
However, the results of these strips will vary. For example, one systematic review found that dental-supervised at-home whitening led to better color changes than strips that you purchase online or in stores.
If you still want to use teeth whitening strips on your own, be sure to follow these tips to improve your results.
6 Tips to Make the Most Out of Teeth Whitening Strips
1. Daily Use is Good, BUT Never Wear Whitening Strips in Excess
Whitening strips have directions for a reason: to follow them. If you think “more is better,” you may be doing more harm than good for your whitening. The chemicals in the agent are strong and can cause your teeth to:
- Become sensitive
- Erode
Your tooth’s enamel is sensitive and can only withstand high concentrations of whitening agents before it erodes. Instead of trying to wear your strips for longer than recommended, refer to the instructions for the specific product you’re using.
For example:
- Crest Professional whitening strips recommend wearing them for 30 minutes per day
- Lumineux whitening strips recommend 30 minutes of wear
You’ll find studies that also follow the 30-minute duration for whitening strips. It’s crucial to read the instructions before using your whitening strips, as the recommended wear duration can vary significantly from one product to the next.
2. Avoid Touching Your Gums During Wear
Teeth whitening strips contain strong whitening agents that may make your gums tingle or “feel funny.” When applying the strips, you’ll want to be very cautious about the placement of them because they shouldn’t be on your gums.
Why?
They should be on your teeth because the agents can damage your gums. It’s very important that you take the time to protect your gums, or you may do more harm than good when using your whitening strips.
P.S. One of the biggest issues with sleeping with whitening strips is that they often move out of place. And where do they end up? Often, they’ll move to a position on your gums, which can be for hours before you wake up and realize what’s going on.
3. Wait Before Eating These Foods
When you remove your whitening strips, your teeth may remain sensitive and you may want to grab a snack or drink. The problem is that your teeth have tiny pores that you’ve opened when brushing and have now allowed the whitening agent to enter.
Whitening requires deep penetration of these pores to try and lift stains that have taken a lifetime to form.
Since these pores are open and will be for hours after you remove the strips, you’ll want to avoid foods and drinks that are known for staining teeth. A few of the items that you should avoid include:
- Coffee
- Wine
- Soda
- Tea
- Fruit juice
- Soy sauce
- Tomatoes and sauces
- Curry
- Balsamic vinegar
- Etc.
Wait two or three hours after you take off your whitening strips to eat any of these foods.
4. Even Application Leads to the Best Results
Whitening strips take a lot of finesse to apply them properly, but you need to master the technique if you want even results. Unfortunately, many patients that achieve subpar stain removal didn’t use the strips properly.
A general rule of thumb to remember is: whitening strips will only whiten the areas they’re applied to fully.
5. Avoid Whitening If You Have Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is something that impacts Canadians across the country. A cavity or rotting tooth may be discolored, but whitening strips are not the answer to whitening them. Instead, it’s better to have a dentist (contact us to schedule an appointment) treat the tooth decay before you try whitening.
Why?
Whitening strips are known for making a person’s teeth sensitive. The chemicals will enter the tooth’s pores and cause them to be sensitive after you take off the strips. Now, if you have a cavity or a broken tooth, the agents will enter into these holes and can cause significant pain in the process.
You’re taking a major risk of being in serious pain if you do decide to use whitening strips on a broken or decayed tooth. Instead, come into our office and have us perform a complete exam and treat the underlying issue first.
We may be able to offer an alternative form of teeth whitening that will be safer for you and can provide even better results than an over-the-counter product can offer.
6. Be Honest With the Results You Want
Teeth whitening strips that you purchase in the store are formulated with a weaker concentration than if you were to go to the dentist’s office and have a tray made just for you. Laws require lower concentrations of these products, meaning that if you have significant yellowing, you may not get the results that you want for your smile.
For example, if you come into our office for a professional teeth whitening, we can whiten 8 - 15 shades of yellowing.
The strips that you purchase outside of a dental office are much weaker and often only provide a one or two-shade difference.
If you perform a full review of your own teeth, think:
- How much yellowing do I really have? A smoker who has nicotine stains on their teeth is not going to see much difference in their smile using whitening strips.
- Will strips work well, or will a professional cleaning work?
Whitening strips offer a temporary smile improvement, but if you still drink and eat things that are known to stain teeth or smoke, your results will be short-lived. Certain lifestyle changes may help extend the whitening.
Are Teeth Whitening Strips My Only Option for a Brighter Smile?
Cosmetic dentistry is one of the most popular services in our office because patients want to smile and be confident when they do. If you want to have your teeth whitened, there are three main options:
- Strips: A whitening procedure that we have discussed in great length already. These strips are applied to the teeth and will need to be reapplied once or twice per day over the course of time recommended on the back of the product.
- Dentist-dispensed: We may recommend what is known as a dentist-dispended whitening. We may create custom trays with your very own whitening formula. These trays are taken home and will be worn as directed. Unlike the strips that you buy in the store, the tray has a high concentration of whitening formula that will help lift even the darkest of stains on the teeth.
- In-office Treatment: Want the best results? Consider an in-office teeth whitening procedure. These treatments are administered by us and will remove decades of stains from your teeth. Zoom whitening is a popular choice and will take about 90 minutes or so. The hydrogen peroxide gel is applied to the teeth, and then the Zoom light will ensure that the agents get deep down into the tooth. We’ll also apply a sensitivity gel to the teeth when we’re done to ensure that you’re as comfortable as possible following the treatment.
Which option is the best choice for your teeth? If you have minimal stains, we may be able to achieve the results with strips or even a custom tray. Otherwise, you may need to have a deeper whitening and may be a good candidate for Zoom whitening.
Once your teeth have been treated and you achieve the results you want, brushing with whitening toothpaste and making changes to the foods and drinks you consume will help you maintain your whiter smile.
Schedule an Appointment With Us
If you’ve tried teeth whitening and aren’t happy with the results, we can help. Our team has experience helping people whiten their teeth by several shades using potent teeth-whitening products that you’ll only find in a dental office.
