Overbleaching: Know when to stop your Tooth Whitening Treatment

Stop before tooth whitening becomes your addiction. Overbleaching can damage your oral health and even hurt your appearance.

You are thinking: “Overbleaching? It can never happen to me. I am a responsible person, I know when to stop.”

I certainly hope you are.

With the emergence of at-home tooth whitening treatments more and more people are whitening their teeth unsupervised. When nobody else watching danger can sneak up on you unnoticed. You will be thinking: “Just two more shades.” or “My teeth are getting yellow again. Let me repeat that tooth whitening treatment one more time.”

Excessive tooth whitening can be just as embarrassing as no whitening at all.

Think about these consequences of overbleaching:

• Your teeth can become overly sensitive or even permanently sensitive.
• Your gums and soft tissue can suffer damage.
• Your tooth enamel can be weakened or seriously damaged.

  In addition to these oral health related problems your teeth can even start turning yellow or blue around the edges again.

  Even if these things don’t happen to you, overbleaced teeth can hurt your appearance. Don’t forget, white teeth are attractive up to a limit. Beyond that limit is freakiness.

What can you do to prevent overbleaching?

• First of all, control yourself. Don’t let tooth whitening become an addiction.

• Set a limit when you begin your tooth whitening treatment. Record the shade of your teeth before whitening. Set an upper limit right then. Stop when you reach that limit.

• Never try to get whiter teeth than the whites of your eyes. If you need more than 10 shades to get there you probably have to stop sooner.

• Do not repeat your treatment too often. If you take good care of your teeth your whiter smile will fade away slowly. 2-3 years sounds reasonable between treatments, with a few touch-ups in between.

• Stop if sensitivity occurs, wait a few days and continue the treatment with more care.

Keep in mind, overbleaching caused by overuse. It doesn’t happen overnight. It requires repeated excessive application. At-home tooth whitening treatments are designed to whiten your teeth. You are at the driver seat. Remain in control.

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