Bleaching / Whitening

How do our teeth get yellow?

This day in age, everyone is talking about whitening and bleaching their teeth. More and more celebrities are emerging with whiter-than-snow teeth - and we want them too. But how do our teeth even start to turn yellow in the first place?

Have you ever noticed how white a child's teeth are?

The enamel, or the hard, outer covering on our teeth is naturally white. Over time, the foods we eat and things we put in our mouth begin to stain the enamel. We all know the biggest culprits: tobacco, coffee, tea and red wine. But there are others as well that can slowly but surely begin to turn our teeth yellow. Red pasta sauces, fruit punch, and colored candies have all been shown to be staining agents.

Luckily, our enamel can be bleached and whitened, so people don't have to live with white teeth. But there is another reason our teeth yellow...and you may not even know it's happening.

While you already know enamel is the white outer layer of your teeth, you may not know that what lies underneath the enamel is called dentin, and dentin, by nature is yellow...sometimes even brownish in color. Certain foods and beverages we consume strip the enamel clear off our teeth, thus revealing more and more of the yellow dentin layer - a layer of our teeth than cannot be bleached white. Such culprits are: citric acid (found in citrus fruits - no lemon sucking!!), and phosphoric acid (found in sodas and pops). Tomato sauce cannot only be blamed for staining, but for stripping the enamel as well. And you think sports drinks are a good alternative to water? Think again. The acid in sports drinks has been found to be as much as 3-10 times as much as that in soda!!

How much does teeth bleaching cost?

Because of the wide variety of options you have when exploring teeth bleaching, you can choose to pay as little as $4.00, or as much as a $2000.00. Obviously, your results are going to vary on this spectrum,...

What is teeth bleaching?

Different products will perform different tasks in the world of tooth whitening and bleaching. Some products simply scrape off surface stains, other penetrate deep into the enamel to bleach the discoloration....

Different Types of Whitening

Brite Smile Brite Smile is offered in both private practices and in specialized spas in dozens of major cities around the country. If you're interested in the Brite Smile procedure,...

Zoom! laser Whitening

Many dentists now offer Zoom whitening in their office. Ask your dentist if he or she offers it. Zoom!, another revolutionary laser-whitening procedure became immensely popular after...