teeth whitening enamel damage
|Teeth Whitening Enamel Damage
Before you start using a teeth whitening system (any system), it is important to know upfront that it will actually work. But even more important to know, is that it is safe and it’s not going to give you a whole slew of undesired side effects. There are at-home whitening tray based systems these days that use a 10% carbamide peroxide solution. This 10% concentration has been found to do significantly less damage. The chances of developing side effects is greatly decreased, but not zero.
However, whitening trays with 10% solutions are considered to be relatively safe by the majority of dentists. Tray systems with 10% peroxide have gained a wide acceptance in both the dental community as well as with the consumers. These whitening systems have been time tested and have proven themselves to be both safe as well as effective.
How Does Teeth Whitening Enamel Damage Form?
You’re probably asking yourself what will happen if you have the unfortunate bad luck of your enamel being damaged in the process of whitening your teeth? While carbamide peroxide is safe in low concentrations, it could still damage your teeth and enamel if you are not careful with it.
Carbamide perixode is a type of peroxide. Another type of peroxide that you have probably heard of, is hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is sold as an antiseptic to be used in the household. It only has a concentration of around 3.5%.
In the context of teeth whitening, it is the peroxide component that performs the actual process of return the natural color to your teeth. The molecules in the peroxide oxidize (break down) pigmented substances that are trapped in the tooth’s enamel. The byproducts of this breakdown are colorless. This is what makes your teeth lighter. This process requires not just any type of peroxide, but hydrogen peroxide.
But carbamide peroxide is safer. So how exactly does this work?
Carbamide peroxide is a compound that is composed of urea and hydrogen peroxide. When water comes in touch with the carbamide peroxide, it breaks down and the hydrogen peroxide is released to perform the actual whitening process. The urea component plays no role in the whitening whatsoever.
The reason why almost all whitening systems use carbamide solutions these days, is because carbamide peroxide molecules are so much more stable than hydrogen peroxide molecules. This way, the products have a much longer shelf life. This guarantees that the consumer doesn’t buy a whitening system whose active ingredients have already deteriorated.
When using a carbamide peroxide solution, 50% of the hydrogen peroxide (which has the whitening effect) will be released in the first hour or so. The other 50% will be released in the following hours.
This controlled release of the hydrogen peroxide decreases the chances of side effects and it decreases the chances of you sustaining permanent teeth whitening enamel damage.
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