Teeth Whitening

Dental patients began to request teeth whitening in the 1970s. At that time, dentists knew that by applying a product with hydrogen peroxide to a patient's teeth they could eliminate any stain on those same teeth. Yet, that time-consuming teeth whitening method forced patients to spend many hours in the dentist's chair.

The introduction of a crystal-laden gel handed dentists the first real major advance in the area of teeth whitening. Using that gel, a dentist could whiten a patient's teeth in just over an hour. Of course, certain characteristics of the gel detracted from the appeal of that early "speed whitening" method.

Due to the strength of the original whitening gel, some dental patients complained about gum problems. By working closely with chemists, dentists managed to develop an alternative whitening gel. Like the original gel, the alternative gel managed to whiten the teeth in just one hour.

Yet even after using that new gel, some dentists found that not all of their patients felt satisfied with the results of the teeth whitening procedure. The ultra violet light used to activate the gel crystals caused the skin around the mouth to look "sunburned". A few patients, notably those taking water pills, had skin that was especially sensitive to ultra-violet light.

By the same token, patients who used skin care products containing Retin-A developed complications, when the ultra violet light hit their treated skin. The use of an new whitening gel could not help such patients to avoid those complications. Dentists realized that they would have more patients, if they could use a crystal-activating light source other than ultra violet light.

Today, many dentists who perform teeth whitening procedures use a laser light to activate the gel crystals. Like the ultra-violet light, the light from a laser can send electrons in the gel crystal into a different energy field. Later, those electrons return to their original energy field and in doing so they allow the gel to penetrate the tooth enamel. As the gel penetrates the tooth enamel, it eats away at any stain on that enamel.

While the activation of gel works well for whitening teeth with a thick layer of enamel, it fails to whiten those areas of the teeth that have a thin layer of enamel. Studies have shown that not every ethnic group has teeth with enamel that copies the thickness of enamel on Caucasian teeth.

In addition, not every dental patient has perfect teeth. Some patients have teeth with crowns, veneers or older fillings. When those elements are in a human mouth, they can become stained. The original teeth whitening method did not wipe out the stain on certain dental apparatus.

Dentists wanted to whiten the teeth of as many patients as possible. For that reason, they encouraged the chemists in the appropriate research and development labs to search for a more all-inclusive teeth whitening method. Those chemists finally put together a whitening formula that could work on both tooth enamel and dental fixtures. Their formula brought another important change to the teeth whitening process.