Side Effects Of Teeth Whitening
With increasing awareness about tooth whitening, people are experimenting with various kinds of products to attain a perfect set of pearly whites. A commonly noticed trend is the fact that many people prefer to use do it yourself products rather than visiting a dentist for a whitening job. Well irrespective of whether it is the fear of the dentists chair or his fee that keeps a vast majority of people from exploring “In-office” whitening; products for of the shelf products for teeth whitening are quite high in demand.
Among such products tooth whitening strips are a popular choice for bringing a brighter shade to your teeth. However as with other methods of teeth whitening, the question of side effects always lurks somewhere nearby. Though most manufactures would say that their strips are absolutely safe to use and any doubts regarding their safety are totally unfounded, it is always prudent on our part to do a little research on your own.
Typically two situations are known to often plague those who use teeth whitening strips namely gum irritation and tooth sensitivity. However a close look at these conditions will reveal that extraneous factors apart from tooth whitening strips are responsible in most cases for such inconvenience.
The gum irritation that is associated with teeth whitening strips is more because of the soft tissue of a person and its reaction to the strip’s hydrogen peroxide whitener rather than the product itself. In case you experience a gum irritation, you should immediately stop using the strip and consult your dentist. With proper treatment issues related to gums can be alleviated in quick time. Further your dentist will be able to suggest the right course of treatment. Once your treatment is over you can again try using whitening strip to check if things turn out better this time around.
Tooth sensitivity is commonly observed when an individual uses a whitening strip. Again the tooth sensitivity that is experienced is not very harsh in severity and typically begins to fade away with each passing day, especially, when you have stopped using the teeth whitening strips.
It has been found in a survey that almost half of the people who use teeth whitening strips are prone to side effects. To minimize such risks, one should go for strips that have lower concentration of whitener. Also, one may test the waters by using the product for a shorter time in the initial period.
Once you have gone through the side effects, it is up to you to decide whether you want to continue using the product or not. If you are satisfied with the whitening result and you want to continue even with minor inconvenience then is advisable to use it at less frequent intervals. However the best approach would be to change the brand of the teeth whitening strip altogether and use a strip that has hydrogen peroxide whitener with lower concentration. If the problem still persists, then you may simply have to abandon this technique of teeth whitening.