You might be tempted to whiten your teeth as a way to save time and out of convenience, but the best way to whiten your teeth is to turn to a cosmetic dentist. When you attempt to whiten your own teeth, you will have to worry about whether you accidentally damage them.

Issues When Whitening Your Teeth Yourself

If you have tooth sensitivity or if you are suffering from gum irritation, you will want to solve this problem before you have your teeth whitened. Therefore, you will want to consult with your dentist before determining if teeth whitening is right for you.

If you try to whiten your teeth yourself, you will risk damaging the enamel on your teeth. After losing your enamel, your teeth will be more vulnerable to becoming stained in the future. Enamel also protects your teeth from tooth decay and cannot be restored once it has been lost.

Professional Teeth Whitening vs. DIY Methods

DIY teeth whitening methods often involve acids that are meant to remove stains from the surface of your teeth. However, these acids will erode your teeth and worsen your smile. Other teeth whitening methods that are done from home are simply not strong enough to produce a noticeable effect.

However, there are several professional options for teeth whitening such as chairside bleaching. To achieve the best results, you will need to have your teeth bleached more than once but the results will be much more stunning. 

Supplemental At-Home Whitening

To achieve optimal results, your dentist might perform in-office bleaching and will also recommend that you perform an at-home whitening. However, you will want your dentist to create a custom tray that will ensure that the gel does not ooze out and irritate your gums. 

Because the at-home whitening will take longer than in-office treatments, you will want to combine both options to achieve optimal results in the shortest span of time. When your teeth are whitened at-home in combination with the in-home whitening treatment, you will be able to speed up how many shades you will be able to whiten your teeth. 

Your dentist will help you make sure that your teeth are whitened to the shade you want. Your dentist will also be able to make sure that the whitening treatment will have as few side effects as possible by using advanced techniques and by controlling the application of the whitening gel.