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Step 1
Look at your personal habits and activities that affect the teeth. Do you smoke? Do you drink coffee, tea, red wine or colas? Since these gradually darken teeth, the whitening products are pretty successful at lightening the tooth color again.
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Step 2
Are your teeth darker because of antibiotic drugs taken as a child? Ask your parent if you aren't sure on this. Tooth bleaching cannot correct this type of darkening of the teeth.
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Step 3
Consider if you have crowns that are lighter in color than the rest of your teeth. The color probably matched your natural tooth color when they were put in. Gradually the remaining teeth darkened or discolored, but the crowns stayed whiter. This had happened with my teeth and the over-the-counter teeth whiteners successfully lightened my teeth back to the color of the crown.
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Step 4
Did you already whiten your teeth but keep wanting them whiter and whiter? Ask the dentist, as you don't want to overdo the whitening. After a certain level, it can damage the enamel of the teeth.
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Step 5
Ask the dentist if their teeth whitening procedure has any guarantees. If you aren't satified, will they extend the procedure?
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Step 6
Some people are more sensitive to bleaching process and their teeth or gums become sensitive to hot and cold temperatures after whitening. If you think this might be a problem, try the milder over-the-counter versions. Space the treatments out so you have a chance to see how you react.
Comments
gailM said
on 4/5/2009 Sorry about the typo!
gailM said
on 4/5/2009 Good information. I was wondering about all thoses ads. Now what about the smoker's dark fingers?