{"id":171,"date":"2015-11-18T00:55:06","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T00:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/?p=171"},"modified":"2016-08-22T23:37:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T06:37:00","slug":"5-myths-about-tooth-whitening-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/5-myths-about-tooth-whitening-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Myths About Tooth Whitening &#8212; Debunked!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_172\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/landmark-dental-teeth-whitening.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-172\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-172 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/landmark-dental-teeth-whitening.jpg\" alt=\"white bright teeth smiling woman\" width=\"500\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/landmark-dental-teeth-whitening.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/landmark-dental-teeth-whitening-300x238.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo credit: Nobilior | Dollar Photo Club<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tooth whitening is one of the most popular dental cosmetic procedures because it produces excellent results, does not harm the teeth or gums,\u00a0and doesn\u2019t cost a fortune. If you are curious about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/services\/tooth-whitening\" target=\"_blank\">whitening your teeth<\/a>, but would first like more information, see below for <strong>five myths<\/strong> about tooth whitening to learn the truth for yourself.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Myth #1: Tooth Whitening Is Painful<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Putting a bleaching agent on your teeth may sound painful, but the process should not cause much or any discomfort at all. Placing too much of the whitening solution into the custom tray may cause some to get onto your gums, which may cause some slight discomfort.\u00a0 Simply removing the tray and rinsing your mouth will alleviate any discomfort from too much solution.\u00a0 Also, some people may experience an increase in sensitivity to things like cold and air.\u00a0 This typically occurs immediately following the application of the whitening agent, is only temporary and will go away with time, and often occurs in those individuals who are more sensitive to begin with.\u00a0 If you have sensitive teeth, rest assured &#8212; most sensitivity can be treated\u00a0with a little time or\u00a0a\u00a0desensitizing gel or mouthwash to use after whitening.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Myth #2: Tooth Whitening Damages Enamel<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>One of the biggest misconceptions about tooth whitening is that it may damage your enamel.\u00a0 This is simply not true. The term &#8220;bleaching&#8221; can be a bit misleading. Bleach can destroy things, but the whitening solution used on your teeth is peroxide based, and it doesn\u2019t weaken or remove your enamel. In fact, the US <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fda.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">FDA<\/a> performs rigorous testing on the bleaching agents used in teeth whitening gel to ensure that they are completely safe and won\u2019t damage your tooth enamel.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Myth #3: At-Home Whitening Isn\u2019t as Effective as In-Office Whitening<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At-home whitening is just as effective as in-office whitening.\u00a0 Although in-office whitening can often have dramatic results, it is usually temporary and, in fact, most dentists will also give the patient custom trays to continue the whitening process at home for the best results.\u00a0 How white your teeth will become with either method depends on several factors, including how long you wear the whitening trays, the number of days you wear the trays and how well your teeth react to the whitening agents.\u00a0 As far as over-the-counter whitening toothpastes, rinses, and other products are concerned, they do not whiten your teeth as well\u00a0(some even argue that they don\u2019t really whiten at all and is more of a marketing ploy).<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Myth #4: All Tooth Discoloration Can Be Fixed With Tooth Whitening<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Regular tooth whitening is great at fixing <em>extrinsic<\/em>\u00a0stains &#8212; those\u00a0caused by foods, beverages, smoking and age. These stains are on the surface, where the whitening agent works. However, <em>intrinsic <\/em>stains , or those that are deeper in the tooth structure, don\u2019t always react well to whitening. Stains from trauma that causes the dentin to darken and an overexposure to fluoride, which can cause <span data-scaytid=\"1\" data-scayt_word=\"fluorosis\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.webmd.com\/children\/fluorosis-symptoms-causes-treatments\" target=\"_blank\">fluorosis<\/a><\/span> (white or brown spots or mottling of the teeth), are poor choices for tooth whitening.\u00a0 If you have these types of stains\u00a0your dentist can work with you to find a solution that will give you a beautiful white smile.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Myth #5: You Only Have to Get Your Teeth Whitened Once<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Actually, this myth could hold true, but only if you decide to avoid everything that can caused tooth discoloration in the first place. The results that you experience during the tooth whitening procedure are considered permanent because the bleaching agent destroys your current stains forever. They won\u2019t suddenly come back in a few months. However, tooth whitening doesn\u2019t make your teeth immune to stains. The more stain-causing foods and beverages you consume, the faster your teeth will develop new stains.\u00a0 Often, patient will need to &#8216;touch up&#8217; their smile with a few weeks of teeth whitening each year.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re tired of a dark and dingy smile, you don\u2019t have to wait a moment longer. Tooth whitening is a great way to get the beautiful smile you\u2019ve always wanted. For more information about teeth whitening, contact <a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\" target=\"_blank\">Landmark Dental Group<\/a> today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-384 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz.png\" alt=\"Landmark Dental Group Contact | Santa Cruz\" width=\"428\" height=\"49\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz.png 428w, https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz-300x34.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tooth whitening is one of the most popular dental cosmetic procedures because it produces excellent results, does not harm the teeth or gums,\u00a0and doesn\u2019t cost a fortune. If you are curious about whitening your teeth, but would first like more information, see below for five myths about tooth whitening to learn the truth for yourself. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":550,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}