Tooth Whitening Procedure

 
Tooth bleaching, also known as tooth whitening, is a common procedure in general dentistry but most especially in the field of cosmetic dentistry. Many people consider white teeth to be an attractive feature of a smile. A child's deciduous teeth are generally whiter than the adult teeth that follow. As a person ages the adult teeth often become darker. This darkening is due to changes in the mineral structure of the tooth, as the enamel becomes less porous. Teeth can also become stained by bacterial pigments, foodstuffs and tobacco.

As white teeth are subconsciously associated with youth, they have become desirable. This has been made more apparent with the spread of American culture worldwide, where an especially white smile is coined a "Hollywood smile". The procedure to bleach teeth uses oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide to lighten the shade of the tooth. The oxidizing agent penetrates the porosities in the rod-like crystal structure of enamel and oxidises interprismatic stain deposits; over a period of time, the dentine layer, lying underneath the enamel, is also bleached. Tooth bleaching will generally last from five to seven years, with variations from factors such as chewing tobacco, cigarette smoking, and tea and coffee consumption.

Tooth Whitening History

Whitening teeth for aesthetic purposes has been dated back to the Ancient Egyptians, where a mixture of ground pumice and wine vinegar was brushed on the teeth with a rudimentary toothbrush. The ancient Romans used human urine by the belief that it kept the teeth white and firmly in place, a practice that continued into the eighteenth century. Whitening in the medieval ages was done by barbers, where the teeth would be filed down and nitric acid applied to the teeth. This was a dangerous procedure, considering the massive tooth damage this practice caused.