The Realities Of ‘Ten Minute Teeth Whitening’: Our Dentists Investigate

05 / 06 / 2018

The Realities Of ‘Ten Minute Teeth Whitening’: Our Dentists Investigate

Our Ipswich Dentists Investigate Claims Increasingly Made On Social Media Adverts

Home teeth whitening strips have been around for a long time now and home whitening trays are also available.

Some of these systems claim to whiten your teeth in around a fortnight or so, but just how effective are they? As we’ve discussed previously on our blog, the home whitening kits supplied by dentists will typically be much more effective, and arguably safer, than those bought from a chemist.

We were curious though, about the increasing number of adverts that we have seen whilst on social media, claiming that teeth can be whitened in ten minutes. These are not DIY suggestions but an actual product that is manufactured at an affordable price; but how well do they work?

UV light

The device supplied is disc-shaped with a section for you to put against your teeth. The theory is that this piece of equipment uses a UV light that whitens your teeth within ten minutes. This is all good in theory, but there are a couple of potential issues here.

Firstly, if UV light is to have any power, the traditional method is to pass an electric current through vapourised mercury and other gases. We are certain that this device does not work like this and that the technique may not actually produce the quality of UV light needed to be very effective.

In addition to this is the question of whether UV light can actually whiten your teeth at all. These products often claim that they can remove surface staining and turn your teeth from yellow to white in a matter of minutes. Sadly, UV lighting alone will not achieve this.

Although some dentists do use a special clinical light to activate a bleaching agent, recent studies have indicated that the effect of UV light is only temporary. It seems that initial comparisons with teeth that had UV light and those that hadn’t shown a difference initially. However, on comparing follow up visits, there was little or no difference. It now appears that the additional extra whiteness from UV light is due to the tooth drying out during the treatment. As it rehydrates afterwards, it loses some of that initial additional whiteness.

In summary, these products may not perhaps be quite as effective as you might expect; so if you really want to have whiter teeth, a trip to the Lighthouse Dental Practice, if you live in Ipswich, is your best bet in our opinion.

It is important that patients remember that a tooth is a living thing. They are not like your fingernails and should not be treated in that way. A tooth is a complex thing which, unlike nails etc, is highly sensitive, with nerves at their very centre as anyone who has had a toothache will be aware! So it is essential to treat your teeth with respect and look after them well. This includes if you are considering having them whitened.

While some of these over-the-counter products can make a small difference to the whiteness of your teeth, for best effect, we recommend having them whitened professionally by one of our Ipswich cosmetic dentists.

If you would like to discuss your discoloured teeth with us to see how we can help, please call the Lighthouse Dental Practice on 01473 257379.

We are here to help you.
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.