By Jesse Hughes

Teeth whitening is an excellent way of getting the pristine white smile you want. It’s a completely safe practice that will not damage your teeth or your gums. In most cases teeth whitening produces impressive results although this cannot be guaranteed. If you have decided that you went to try whitening your teeth you are probably going to want to know how long it takes before you start to see results.

There are different ways of using teeth whiteners. You can undergo teeth whitening in office or you can choose to use bleach trays at home. The best results can often be obtained from using a combination of the processes. You can start by choosing an in-office teeth whitening session which produces the quickest results. You can then keep your teeth white by using bleach trays at home as a follow-up.

What happens after an in-office treatment?

In office teeth whitening is often referred to as power bleaching and the results are noticeable more quickly than if you use trays. You will normally be able to see a significant difference immediately after the procedure is completed. Over the following twenty-four hours the results gets more noticeable as gel used to bleach the teeth seeps through the enamel. During this twenty-four hour period you should avoid any food or drink that contains coloring’s as these can have an adverse effect on the way the bleach performs. If you are wondering why you only need to do this for twenty-four hours, it’s because the bleach makes your teeth more porous for this length of time. The color of your teeth eventually settles to a subtle white color.

It’s worth noting that the bleach only works on your natural teeth; any veneers and crowns you have will remain the same color. You may find that these need updating in order to look natural against the new white coloring of your natural teeth.

How white will your teeth be?

It’s worth remembering that all teeth vary slightly in structure so there is no guarantee as to how effective the whitening will be. However, in the majority of cases you should see a significant and even whitening of your teeth. Teeth whitening is most effective on temporary staining such as that caused by food dyes, caffeine and tobacco. The effects of teeth whitening last for different lengths of time for different people. If you smoke, or drink red wine, tea or coffee then the shade of your teeth is likely to darken more quickly.

Does just using bleach trays work?

If you opt to just use bleach trays, instead of having any in-office whitening completed, you should eventually achieve the same result but it does take longer. Most people start to see a change after using the trays once or twice although a really good result usually takes at least 3-4 treatments. It’s also worth noting that results are not guaranteed as some teeth are simply resistant to whitening.

As you can see, for most people, the best results for teeth whitening are achieved by having in-office teeth whitening completed followed by using trays to top up. Results normally start to be visible immediately, although you should always remember that there is no guarantee as to how much and how quickly your teeth will whiten.