Tooth Whitening

Tooth whitening

While some people seem infuriatingly blessed with naturally gleaming, flawless teeth, the reality for many is quite different. Consider the discolorations your chompers regularly endure from your daily intake of coffee, tea, and food--then amplify those stains across weeks, months, and years. It's not difficult to see how the enamel can get a little off-color over time. The ubiquity of yellow teeth doesn't make it any less frustrating, however, and some seek whitening treatment in professional dental clinics. These days, though, there are many tooth-whitening products designed for home use that mirror the clinical procedures but boast a far friendlier price tag. Walgreens carries all manner of home whitening products, from specially formulated toothpastes to gel-coated strips, chewing gums, whitening pens, rinses, and the like. Explore each item through detailed product descriptions, complete ingredient lists, and lively customer reviews--background details that add up to a rich portrait. Whether you're seeking relief from a few patchy surface-level stains or a more deep-seated and uniform dullness, these whitening products may be just the ticket.

The basics of tooth whitening

In order to decide what sort of course of action to pursue, it's crucial to understand the different mechanisms by which tooth-whitening products actually address stains. And in order to do that, you'll need some idea of how teeth actually become discolored. Surface-level, or "extrinsic," stains from everyday food and beverage intake appear in that outer layer of the enamel called the pellicle. Discolorations deeper in the enamel, including along the boundary of the enamel and the interior dentin, are called "intrinsic" stains and form through the long-term deep-seepage of pigments from foods, beverages, and tobacco, as well as chemical effects from some medications, bacterial action, and other triggers. A whitening toothpaste and the associated mechanical action of toothbrush bristles may be able to address extrinsic stains and even ward off future discolorations at that level, but to have a chance at eliminating extrinsic stains you should consider bleaching formulations such as peroxide-based gels, which work below the surface. It generally takes consistent use of a whitening product over time to see effects.