Over time, teeth can become yellower or duller in color, often due to reasons outside of your control, like aging. But you might feel unhappy about the diminished brightness in your smile. You might seek oral hygiene products at your local shop that can enhance your tooth color, and whitening toothpaste promises to help you achieve your smile aesthetic goals.
When used as directed, whitening toothpaste can get brighten the color of your teeth several shades. Read on to learn how this specialized toothpaste will achieve cosmetic dental enhancement.
How Does Traditional Toothpaste Work?
To properly clean your teeth, you use a toothbrush to scrub away plaque and other residues from your smile. Toothpaste features abrasive ingredients that improve this process and better remove build-up and surface stains.
This traditional toothpaste makes sure your teeth get clean and therefore stay healthy. And it can address some surface stains to improve the appearance of your smile.
But toothpaste will not penetrate the tooth enamel to address deeper discoloration in your smile. You will need more targeted cosmetic and whitening solutions to address more stubborn dental stains.
Will Whitening Toothpaste Give Me a Brighter Smile?
You can use specialized whitening toothpaste to get rid of deeper stains in your teeth. Your local shop offers toothpaste like this that can in fact help you get a brighter smile.
This type of toothpaste has abrasive ingredients as traditional ones do, but it also features a bleaching agent. The agent absorbs deeper into the teeth to lift stains to the surface. Then you can brush away the stains in your usual oral hygiene routine.
When used as directed, you can whiten your smile several shades this way. Make sure you purchase a brand of whitening toothpaste marked with the ADA seal to ensure you get the best results.
What Teeth Whitening Treatments Can My Dentist Offer?
Though whitening toothpaste can brighten your tooth color, this is a one-size-fits-all approach to smile enhancement. Toothpaste alone cannot address all types of dental discoloration. You may want to visit your dentist for an individualized cosmetic dental treatment plan.
A dentist can monitor the whitening process with an in-office treatment. They apply hydrogen peroxide gel to the teeth to brighten the color, supervising to ensure you get the color that suits your smile with minimized side effects. This treatment can also be done through a take-home kit.
Your dentist might also brighten your smile using tooth bonding. With this treatment, the dentist applies resin to the teeth, covering stubborn stains to give a brighter and more even finish to the smile. You should note that bonding can stain if you do not adhere to your dentist’s aftercare guidelines.
A dentist may suggest porcelain veneers for patients seeking long-lasting smile enhancement. These stain-resistant, custom-made shells attach to the front of teeth to build a brighter and straighter smile according to the patient’s aesthetic goals. Learn more when you schedule a consultation with your cosmetic dentist today.