About 4,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used to whiten their teeth by using a mixture of ground-up pumice stone and vinegar. Thankfully, we have developed much better technology for whitening our teeth these days.
But that doesn’t mean you can get your teeth whitened as often as you’d like. So, how often can you whiten your teeth? The answer is that it depends on what kind of whitening you do.
How Often Can You Whiten Your Teeth?
How often you can safely whiten your teeth depends on what type of whitening you decide to do. In-office whitening results typically last for about a year. While take-home products will take five to six months, then over the counter products will only last a couple of months before they need a touch-up.
In-Office Treatments
When you seek an in-office whitening treatment, you can take advantage of more powerful whitening agents because you have the oversight of an experienced dentist. This could be a solution that is as much as 40% peroxide.
You’ll get faster and better results while also protecting your gums. Just one hour of treatment can give you results that are several shades brighter.
Because the treatment is so intense, you can expect your results to last a year. This also means you don’t want to do this whitening treatment more than once a year.
Take-Home Treatments
A treatment between in-office and over the counter is a take-home treatment. The dentist will create custom trays of your teeth and send you home with a bleaching gel.
The custom formed trays will minimize the damage you do to your gums. Your dentist will give you detailed instructions. You could need to wear your trays for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.
You can use these treatments in between your in-office visits to keep your teeth looking fresh.
Over the Counter Treatments
Head to your store, and you’ll find a wide variety of whitening products that vary significantly in their effectiveness. Toothpaste and rinses you can use every day but will rarely get you more than one shade of improvement. It will also take several months before you see results.
Pens, gels, and bleaching strips are safe to use every day. You can expect to see an improvement of 2 to 3 shades. It will take about two weeks to first start seeing results and then about four months to see the full effect.
Whiten Your Teeth Today
How often can you whiten your teeth will depend on what type of whitening you choose to do. For mild over the counter treatments, you can use them every day.
Then more intense treatments, like take-home treatments, you can use every few months. Then the strongest of treatments that you receive in a dentist office you can get about once a year.
Schedule an appointment today let us help you achieve a bright white and healthy smile.