Types of Teeth Whitening Trays
If you have decided that you want to whiten your teeth at home using teeth whitening trays, you still have a few options to choose from. You can buy one of the number of over the counter products available, or you can get custom made trays from your dentist. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these solutions.
You will get the best results with custom fitted trays made by your dentist. These trays will fit your teeth ideally. This means that all the surfaces that you wish to be whitened will be covered, and your gums will not. Contact with the gums can mean that the whitener will get on your gums and cause irritation, so it is best to avoid this. Any tooth surface that is not covered by the tray will not have contact with the whitener, and therefore will not get whitened.
The disadvantages of getting custom fitted teeth whitening trays are mainly that of cost and time. These trays are a lot more expensive than using the over the counter products, though still less than laser whitening done in the dentist’s office. It also requires a lot longer wait in order for you to get started since you have to make multiple dentist visits. You need to get impressions made of your teeth, and then you need to return so that they can check the fit of the trays and make any adjustments before you can get started on the whitening process.
The advantages of over the counter, stock teeth whitening trays are mainly that they are very inexpensive and that you can get started on the whitening process right away. However, before using these it is always good to visit the dentist so that you can make sure that you have all necessary dental work completed. You should also ask about whether or not these types of trays are likely to help with the type of discoloration that you have.
Disadvantages of the stock teeth whitening trays are mainly caused by the fact that they are not custom fitted. They might not stay in place as well as they should, and they might cover too much or too little of your teeth. If they cover the gums they might be more uncomfortable, as well as having the possibility of causing discomfort in the gums do to the whitening agent getting onto the gums. If they cover too little they are likely to leave parts of your teeth unbleached, which may look a bit odd and detract from the overall results that you can achieve.