The Science Behind Teeth Whitening
One of the most attractive things on a man or a woman is a great smile. Thank goodness that the modern toothbrush was invented in 1938. Since that time, toothbrushes and toothpastes have become better and better. The fluoride in today's toothpastes helps maintain the hardness of the calcium phosphate in teeth. Even with the use of great toothbrushes and top-of-the-line dental care products, it is possible for teeth to become discolored. This article will outline some of the culprits of discoloration, how whitening toothpaste works, and how actual whitening strips work.
Sources of Discoloration
One of the biggest problems with teeth is that they are porous. This means that they have small spaces that allow different foods to penetrate a little ways into the tooth. If the food is not removed, it can be detrimental to your teeth. It is important to note that acidic foods are the worst for staining teeth. The acid softens the enamel on the tooth and allows for staining. Some of the food that are best to avoid are coffee, acidic fruit juices, citrus fruits in general, red wine, and colored soda. These are just a few of the foods that are known to be teeth stainers.
Whitening Toothpaste
Watching television for a day, you are sure to see a few different commercials for whitening toothpastes. Each toothpaste will, more often than not, do the job of whitening your teeth. These toothpastes are able to do this by removing surface stains. These toothpastes do not get the deep internal stains, but they use soft abrasives, totally safe, to scrape the stains off of the tooth. Removing surface stains from a tooth helps bring the white back more than any other treatment.
Whitening Gels
Unlike the stains that toothpastes remove, the stains that whitening gels are designed to remove are internal. The stains are between the enamel and the dentin. In order to be rid of these types of stains, it is often necessary to use whitening gels. These gels contain carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide, and can whiten teeth considerably. Oxygen is the key to whitening your teeth. The oxygen reacts with the molecules that are causing the stain and break the bond between the stain and your tooth. Thus it is common to see considerable results fairly quickly.
Dental care has come a long way in the past few years, and it is nice to see so many great smiles around. For more information, contact a clinic like Advanced Dental Professionals.
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