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Tooth whitening is the procedure for whitening the tooth crown that you see in the mouth, but what is really targeted is the enamel of the crown, the hardest substance in the human body that quickly gets discoloured if not kept clean always.

Most tooth whitening range of dental products work effectively to achieve whiter teeth, which is why more dentist use tooth whitening system all over the world more than ever before now. And to make tooth whitening more interesting, tooth whitening systems can now be used both at home or office.

Teeth are really a living part of the body. They have blood vessels and nerves. Teeth are enriched with lots of calcium. People who drink lots of milk or take calcium supplements have strong bones and teeth which are easier to maintain. It won't surprise me if you are unaware that most of the tooth whitening syringe delivered take-home bleaching gel are approved as convenient replacements to previous burdensome bleaching procedures that lacked the sticky adhesive properties necessary to achieve optimum result.

There are tooth whitening products today that work whitening miracles in days instead of weeks. Carbamide peroxide is the main ingredient in most tooth whitening formula, which has both potassum nitrate and fluoride that prevent tooth sensitivity providing safety of very high standard.

Some times some tooth whitening products can be seen to show small bubbles; this does not mean that the product has been activated already as a result of peroxide decomposition. The bubbles are simply there due to the nature of its formulation. Most products' catalogue pictures show these small bubbles even though pictures are, more often than not, taken from out of production line stock.

Further more, it is not an a defect if a dark purple coloration should appear in tray with bleaching in relation to other amalgams. This is quite inconsequential as has been proven for many years now in clinical use, which has never shown any adverse side effect on amalgam restorations. Experts think that Zink present in old amalgams cause the discoloration.

Because of the modification of anatomy in relation to oxidation that eliminates dark intra-dental organic dyes, conjugated double bonds of colour occur in different colour absorbing molecules. What really happens when bleaching takes place is that tooth sating molecules are changed to alcohols and terminal arboxylic acids which eats up light absorbing conjugated bonds that are really not cells but unwanted dye in dentin and enamel of teeth.

This is why it is quite difficult to bleach the cervical portion of the tooth than the incised edge. Reason is that enamel is thinner than gingival so the dentin responds to bleaching easier than the enamel, yet the dentin takes longer to bleach in comparison to the enamel of the incised third.

A study carried out at the University of Texas(Barghi N, Morgan J. Reducing the Adverse Effect of Bleaching on Composite Enamel Bond. Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, 1994, Volume 6, Issue 4; 157-161) shows that in pinch, one could bond immediately after bleaching using up to 35% carbamide peroxide with a mixture of A & B acetone specially made for dentin bonding.

Now you may want to know at what age should one be considered mature enough for teeth bleaching. Well, little is yet published on children's teeth whitening or the whitening of primary dentition. But a University of North Carolina study indicates that no one will respond to bleaching with adverse site effect in terms of sensitivity because of age.

However, let it be a recommendation that to ensure thorough all level whitening, all teeth should have erupted before bleaching is done for a child, if not teeth that erupt after bleaching will definitely have a darker shade than the bleached teeth. Also about bleaching already restored tooth, it is advisable that the composite restoration be left intact during bleaching and replace it after bleaching. This should be done at least two weeks after bleaching to ensure that the shade of the whitened teeth has stabilised after peroxide has diffused out of the teeth to allow for better bonding.