Dental Advice for the Sweet Tooth

Hey! I'm Frankie, and welcome to my dental advice blog. I'm a foodie and I love sweet treats, but I also love my teeth! It can be hard to keep your dental health in top condition when you've got a sweet tooth, but it's not impossible. Over the years, I've learned tons of great advice from friends, family members and dentists, and I'd love to share it with you. My blog is here to give you all the tips and tricks you need to stay free of decay and other tooth problems without giving up all your favourite foods and snacks.

When Whitening Is Stifled by Saliva: How Excessive Saliva Becomes a Problem When Using Whitening Strips

Dentist Blog

Whitening strips are one of the most cost effective ways of whitening teeth. Placing whitening strips on your teeth is also much more simple than holding a tray full of bleaching gel in your mouth. However, there is one particular downside to whitening strips that may reduce their effectiveness—excessive saliva production.

A normal function of the human mouth is to salivate whenever a foreign object such as a pen is placed within it. Saliva also contains a natural painkiller that is 6 times stronger than morphine, opiorphin, contains enzymes that kill bacteria, and possesses the tools to begin the digestive process before food reaches your stomach.

Despite all those good points, when it comes to whitening strips, saliva can become a problem.

Excessive Saliva Causes Strips to Slip Off

When you first start whitening strips, you may well waste a number of them as you get used to the amount of saliva your mouth produces in response. Your saliva also reacts with the whitening agent in the strips, hydrogen peroxide, producing a foamy residue. Since you need to keep whitening strips on your teeth for upwards of 20 minutes, excessive saliva becomes an issue.

Although whitening strips are designed to withstand excessive amounts of saliva, they still slip off teeth, wasting strips and slowing down the whitening process. However, if you currently have a box of whitening strips at home and wish to use them despite the nuisance of saliva, use the following tips.

Keep Them as Dry as Possible

Before you place them in your mouth, ensure that your fingers, and the strip are completely dry. This will require you to be extra careful when placing whitening strips to ensure that no saliva comes into contact with them as you place them. You should also dry your teeth with a hand towel before placing the strips.

Lie Down Whilst Wearing Them

The biggest issue with excessive saliva production whilst using strips is that the saliva pools around your lower teeth. To overcome this issue, lie down whilst the strips do their work. The whitening agent is not harmful to your health, and so swallowing the residue will not be an issue.

Whiten top and Bottom Teeth Separately

Although it will take longer, by whitening the top and bottom teeth separately, the process will be a little more comfortable. You may even produce less saliva than when whitening both top and bottom teeth at the same time.

If excessive saliva production is getting in the way of your efforts to whiten your teeth, you may benefit from a professional teeth whitening procedure instead. 

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22 September 2017