What is Teeth Whitening?

Teeth whitening lightens teeth and helps remove stains and discoloration. Whitening the teeth is among the most popular cosmetic dental procedures performed.  It is not a one time procedure and needs to be repeated from time to time to maintain the brightest smile. Most dentist whiten teeth, but you can use at home products to achieve good results.

The outer layer of the tooth is called the tooth enamel.  The color of natural teeth is created by the reflection and the scattering of the light off the tooth enamel, combined with the color of the dentin under the tooth enamel.  Your genes will affect the thickness and smoothness of your tooth enamel.  Thinner tooth enamel allows more of the color of the dentin to show through to the tooth enamel. 

Everyday a thin coating forms on the tooth enamel and picks up stains.  Tooth enamel contains pores that can hold stains. The most common reasons for teeth to get yellow or stained are the use of tobacco, drinking dark-colored liquids such as coffee, cola, tea and red wine and not taking good care of your teeth. Aging also makes the teeth less bright as the tooth enamel gets thinner and the dentin becomes darker.

You can buy products over the counter to use at home.  These products contains a weaker whitening agent than the products that the dentist uses.  Whitening of the tooth enamel will take longer with the drugstore products than with those the dentist uses.  Toothpastes are also available to whiten the teeth.  They contain abrasives that will remove the stains on the tooth enamel, but don't really change the overall color of the enamel on your teeth.