How Much Whiter Your Teeth Can Be?
Nearly everyone can benefit from teeth whitening. Yes, you will have whiter teeth. How much whiter? Follow these guidelines to help you set your expectations.
The general answer you will get is this
You should not expect whiter teeth than the whites of your eyes.
I have said it! It is done! You are running to the mirror and comparing your eyes and your teeth. Do you have and idea now?
Your eyes set a good starting point because it is a natural color. It is your color. Some people have whiter eyes than others.
It also sets a target for you. You may be thinking. “But I want even whiter teeth.” Think again. Would it really look good?
Overbleached teeth create a color imbalance on your face. You may feel embarrassed with your yellowish teeth today but you would feel just as much embarrassed with snow white teeth.
The whites of your eyes. Can you really get there?
This is where the difficulty comes in. Yes, it is realistic for most people but not for everyone.
Young people with lightly discolored teeth can get there very fast. Most whitening systems will work for you. Don’t abuse your gums with the strongest gels.
The older you get however the more stain collects in your teeth. Your teeth are also harder to penetrate. Bleaching becomes more difficult with age. Simple products – like whitening strips - will get you little or no result. Select something better.
Look into that mirror again. What color do you see? Yellow and brown stains lighten relatively easy.
Do you have a long way to go between your current tooth color and the whites of your eyes? You will need to choose a more advanced product. Try tray based systems with moldable, preferably custom trays. Plan on less whiteness before you hurt yourself in the process. Your will have whiter teeth. With more advanced products you may even reach the whites of your eyes.
Do you see gray or blue? You are out of luck. You probably smoke or your teeth were exposed to too much antibiotics when you were young.
Smoking and antibiotics leave tetracycline stains in your teeth. These are much harder to clean. You will need to choose one of the best products. Preferably with custom made whitening trays. You will need a long time - even 6 months – to get those whiter teeth.
Look around the edges of your teeth.
Do you see more discoloration? Hard to reach areas are usually darker and harder to reach. Custom trays or moldable trays can help you get whiter teeth around the edges.
Cuspids – the 3rd teeth from the middle - are also harder to whiten. With custom made trays you can apply bleach to these teeth only.
Do you have old fillings or crowns?
Crowns and fillings do not whiten. Look into the mirror again. If you had them for a long time you may see what color your teeth were a few years ago.
You have two choices to set your goal.
- Plan on whitening until you reach the color of your crowns or fillings.
- Plan on replacing these after the whitening treatment.
Remember! You will have whiter teeth. How much whiter? It depends on
- your situation as you learned above,
- and the whitening product of your choice.
Where to go next?
Whitening power of different tooth whitening products
- Different whitening methods will give you different results. Here is what to expect from each.
Back to whitening quality
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