Do At-Home Teeth Whiteners Work?
Experts Put Products To The Test
UPDATED: 10:23 am CST March 5, 2003
BOSTON -- Coffee, tea, red wine and age all take a toll on our once-white teeth.
But now, with a bursting market of over-the-counter tooth-whitening products, it's easier than ever to return to flashing your pearly whites. But do they really work? And are they safe?When it comes to getting that whitest and brightest smile, consumers have myriad choices with over-the-counter whitening gels and strips."I found that some of the products work quite well because the reality is peroxide bleaches teeth," said Dr. Gerry Kugel, of Tufts School of Dental Medicine. "The issue is, how do you deliver it, what the real concentration is, you know, some are very high, some are low."Paint-on gels and take-home strips generally have a low percentage of peroxide, usually about 3 percent, versus the 35 percent bleaching process done at the dentist's office.Paint-on gels may be easy to use, but dentists agree that the whitening product washes away quickly, as do the hopeful results.One of the most popular at-home kits is Crest White Strips."White Strips work very well, doesn't cover all your teeth, only covers the front six teeth, but it works," Kugel said.Meghan Cronin agrees."It did work. I definitely noticed my teeth were whiter afterwards, but just doing it for two weeks for an hour every day was just a pain, and I also noticed a lot of sensitivity in my teeth that sometimes I couldn't do it for two days in a row," she said. "Then, after I did take it off, my teeth were really sensitive to cold and to hot drink, or food, or anything."Sensitivity is a common side effect, Kugel said. But it should dissipate with time, and he maintains most of the strips on the market are safe."There are some that say they are nonperoxide bleaching products. If you take some of these products and put it on your teeth, you will etch them, and the etching process will make them look white, but the problem is you damage enamel," Kugel said.That's because they contain phosphoric acid or citric acid. If used for a short period of time, teeth will remineralize, but if you overdo it and take away too much enamel, then you could have a problem.Kugel said that if you have had any restoration work done on your teeth, such as fillings, bondings, crowns or veneers, those particular teeth may not whiten. You may end up spending additional dollars on dental work to fix that problem.
But now, with a bursting market of over-the-counter tooth-whitening products, it's easier than ever to return to flashing your pearly whites. But do they really work? And are they safe?When it comes to getting that whitest and brightest smile, consumers have myriad choices with over-the-counter whitening gels and strips."I found that some of the products work quite well because the reality is peroxide bleaches teeth," said Dr. Gerry Kugel, of Tufts School of Dental Medicine. "The issue is, how do you deliver it, what the real concentration is, you know, some are very high, some are low."Paint-on gels and take-home strips generally have a low percentage of peroxide, usually about 3 percent, versus the 35 percent bleaching process done at the dentist's office.Paint-on gels may be easy to use, but dentists agree that the whitening product washes away quickly, as do the hopeful results.One of the most popular at-home kits is Crest White Strips."White Strips work very well, doesn't cover all your teeth, only covers the front six teeth, but it works," Kugel said.Meghan Cronin agrees."It did work. I definitely noticed my teeth were whiter afterwards, but just doing it for two weeks for an hour every day was just a pain, and I also noticed a lot of sensitivity in my teeth that sometimes I couldn't do it for two days in a row," she said. "Then, after I did take it off, my teeth were really sensitive to cold and to hot drink, or food, or anything."Sensitivity is a common side effect, Kugel said. But it should dissipate with time, and he maintains most of the strips on the market are safe."There are some that say they are nonperoxide bleaching products. If you take some of these products and put it on your teeth, you will etch them, and the etching process will make them look white, but the problem is you damage enamel," Kugel said.That's because they contain phosphoric acid or citric acid. If used for a short period of time, teeth will remineralize, but if you overdo it and take away too much enamel, then you could have a problem.Kugel said that if you have had any restoration work done on your teeth, such as fillings, bondings, crowns or veneers, those particular teeth may not whiten. You may end up spending additional dollars on dental work to fix that problem. Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
