How Healthy Are You?

What Are Teeth Whitening Strips and Are They Efffective?

A tooth whitening strip is basically a thin piece of polyethylene which has a film of hydrogen peroxide on it. As you may already know, this peroxide is a whitening agent that’s used in many tooth whitening treatments.

The method of using the teeth whitening strips is pretty straightforward. You simply press it onto your teeth and leave it there for awhile. Commonly, you have to leave it for 30 minutes. You won’t get much benefit from doing it just the once, however. Usually you will have to do this twice a day for 2 weeks. But this obviously varies from product to product.

Teeth whitening strips are generally intended to be worn for shorter periods than teeth whitening trays and are far less bulky so more comfortable to use. One of the downsides of teeth whitening strips is the fact that they make use of hydrogen peroxide as the bleaching agent. The use of hydrogen peroxide doesn’t tend to be widely supported in the dental industry as the amount of bleaching agent required to make any significant difference to the color of your teeth would not be innocuous to use in the home environment. Carbamide peroxide is thought to be the preferred option which is now acquirable in tray based teeth whitening products.

Some level of side effects tends to be a general problem when using teeth whitening strips as a method of whitening teeth with the most common side effects being gum irritation and sensitive teeth (both problems will generally disappear over time). The likelihood of suffering from such side effects is reduced if you use teeth whitening strips with the lower concentration of bleaching agent (6%) which will deliver the same result as the higher concentration strips but it will just take longer to whiten your teeth.

Teeth whitening strips can help a lot in making you feel confident about making a good impression. The best way for you to be confident and feel great about yourself is by putting on that great smile - thanks to your teeth whitening strips!