Is Teeth Whitening Safe?

Unfortunately, the answer is: Yes / No / Maybe – it really depends.

For most people, the main concern here: is teeth whitening going to cause any long-term damage to the teeth?

If your teeth whitening is done under supervision or recommendation by your dentist, and you use the products as directed it is perfectly safe. Your teeth will not be harmed by whitening. In fact, the entire Iconic Dentistry regularly whiten their teeth.

Any professional whitening product used or issued by your dentist is effective (so you use the minimum product required), and pH balanced so it doesn’t damage your enamel.

Some whitening products are unfortunately unregulated but are readily available. These may have an acidic pH. These give great initial results because they acid etch your enamel, but they also cause dehydration and acid erosion too! This causes permanent damage as it thins out your enamel. Over time it has the effect of making your teeth darker. Remember enamel is the stuff that makes your teeth look white?

Some teeth need some TLC before they can be safely whitened. If they have leaky fillings, undiagnosed decay, nerve or gum issues, these should be corrected before teeth whitening. We recommend a regular check-up and clean before any teeth whitening.

Will My Teeth Look Unnatural, Fake, or Too White?

Teeth whitening will not cause your teeth to look fake or unnatural. Why? Because natural teeth cannot look fake or unnatural. All teeth have numerous colours and optical characteristics in their natural state. These all remain regardless of the amount of whitening. Whitening just reduces the intensity of colour and lightens the teeth. Other optical characteristics such as: luminosity, opalescence, translucency, and chromaticity all remain. So when you whiten your teeth, the end result is a lighter and brighter version of what you had before. Natural teeth will always look natural, regardless of teeth whitening.

Too white? In all our collective years of clinical practice, no one has ever said teeth whitening has made their teeth too white. Teeth naturally darkens over time. This is a process that happens continuously so even if we achieve “too white”, it will become “perfect” in time.

What Teeth Whitening Products do Dentists use?

At Iconic Dentistry, we use and recommend a variety of teeth whitening products. Our Hydrogen Peroxide based products range from 6% to 38% concentration, whilst our Carbamide Peroxide range from 10% to 22%. We always tailor the product recommendations to the safest and most effective for your individual circumstances.

Does the brand and clinic matter? Yes it does! Both Hydrogen Peroxide and Carbamide Peroxide are inherently unstable (they both eventually break down into oxygen and water). They actually need to be unstable to work. This means they have relatively short shelf life. The older the product is, the less effective it will be.

Iconic Dentistry partner with Pola White – an Australian company with local manufacturing. This means the product does not need to travel half-way around the world before it gets to you. This is important because long transit times means unstable temperatures, which breaks down the product fast and makes it

ineffective. Our clinic also does high volumes of whitening. This means our products don’t stay on the shelves for long. In fact we are proud to be teeth whitening partners with Miss Universe Australia!

I’ve Whitened My Teeth Before. It Didn’t Work Very Well.

Teeth whitening works and is safe when done professionally. There are 3 main factors that determine how well the whitening works.

1) Preparation. The teeth must be healthy. Plaque and stains need to be professionally removed. If teeth are not prepared before whitening, it won’t be effective. Please see your Iconic dentist if you are overdue for your check-up and clean.

2) Product Concentration. The correct product and concentration is important. If the concentration is not high enough, not much will happen.

3) Treatment Time. The whitening needs to be applied for the correct amount of time. It also needs to be re-applied at the right intervals. This all depends on the actual product used. Your dentist will advise what’s most appropriate for your teeth, as its different for everyone.

There are numerous non-dentist operated clinics that provide 6% Hydrogen Peroxide for anywhere between 30 to 60 mins. A single application of 6% Hydrogen Peroxide gives very little results. The time is also inappropriate. Hydrogen Peroxide breaks down within 30 mins so there is no effect other than tooth dehydration past 60 mins without additional application. Please only trust your teeth with a qualified dentist.

My Teeth Get Sensitive When I’m Whitening. Does This Mean My Teeth Are Getting Damaged?

No, sensitivity does not mean your teeth are getting damaged (if you are using professional dentist quality products). If you experience sensitivity during whitening, its generally caused by the movement of oxygen and chromophores (coloured compounds) out of the tooth. This is a sign that its working well! Not everyone experiences sensitivity, and our goal is to make sure you this is minimal.

Sensitivity during whitening is fairly common, and generally transient – meaning it disappears when you’ve finished whitening. But at Iconic Dentistry, we’ll go one step further. We’ll help you manage your teeth whitening so that we can almost eliminate your sensitivity whilst you continue to whiten your teeth. Just contact the clinic if you ever have sensitivity issues whilst whitening your teeth.

If you are experiencing sensitivity after whitening with over-the-counter, online, or beautician-issued products please contact your trusted dentist immediately.

How Many Shades Whiter Can I Expect My Teeth To Go?

The answer is that it doesn’t matter because that’s not how you should measure teeth whitening. Unfortunately, inaccurate marketing campaigns over the years have promoted using “x” number of shades to measure how well whitening works. You often see claims of “6-9 shades whiter using XYZ product”. The reality is that using ‘shades’ to measure teeth whitening results can be likened to using a broken ruler to measure weight loss.

In dentistry, shade guides give a static representation of colour for a tooth at any given time (for restorative work). However, different shade measurements do not represent a change in whiteness of a tooth. In fact, there is no shade guide that can measure linear changes of whiteness. Dark teeth whiten faster than white teeth. There are also many more shade measurements for dark teeth than white teeth. So using the same system and same shade guide someone with dark teeth might get 10 shades of improvement, whilst someone with lighter teeth may only get 2.

So you see, using shades to measure teeth whitening results is close to useless. In fact, reputable dental companies will never mention how many shades their system will achieve because it’s a meaningless measure.

Are All Whitening Trays The Same? Does It Matter?

Using customised fitted whitening trays is absolutely important for results. In fact this is probably one of the most overlooked areas of teeth whitening.

The only agents that can whiten teeth are hydrogen or carbamide peroxide. Saliva contains an enzyme known as peroxidase. It’s job is to find any peroxide (the whitening agent), and break it down within minutes to make it ineffective. So if you get saliva contamination during whitening, it won’t work regardless of what product is used.

The purpose of the whitening trays is to keep the whitening gel on the teeth, and stop the saliva from inactivating it. So well-fitting whitening trays are the key here. At Iconic Dentistry, our whitening trays are constructed from high resolution digital scans and then hand-made using advance materials and techniques. Details matter!