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.
If you have braces on your teeth, you might well be looking forward to the day when they're removed. Their job will be done, it's time to say goodbye, and your teeth will have been straightened to the desired degree. Mission accomplished in that department, but in addition to having straight teeth, you could also be chasing the total package—teeth that are both straight and noticeably white. You could certainly begin to focus on tooth whitening once your braces are removed, but what if you don't want to wait? After all, your braces might need to remain in place for years. Is it possible to whiten your teeth when you have braces?
The Complications
In short, yes it's possible, although your braces can complicate your objective of having whiter teeth. This is rather logical, since a reasonable amount of surface area of your teeth is covered by metal brackets, bands and archwires. This makes it difficult (and in some instances, impossible) for the active ingredient in many tooth whitening solutions to work on the overall surface area.
Whitening Toothpaste
For moderate results, you can simply use a whitening toothpaste at home, perhaps strengthening its effects with the use of a whitening mouthwash and whitening sugarless chewing gum. This is the easiest way, although as mentioned, the results are only ever likely to be moderate.
Home Whitening Kits
Most home whitening solutions use an applicator tray. This resembles a mouthguard which allows the solution to be held against your teeth for the specified period of time. The trouble is that such an applicator tray isn't going to accommodate your braces. You can still use a home whitening solution, but only after a tray has been custom made for you by your dentist, using a mold of your teeth and braces.
Professional Assistance With Whitening
But if you're going to see your dentist anyway, they can of course perform the whitening for you. This allows for a more targeted approach, whitening the visible surface areas of your teeth. Although this might not be the most cost effective option, it offers the best results in a quick and precise manner.
Regardless of which method you use, it's important to remember that once your braces are removed, a difference in colour could be noticeable. This is because the sections of your teeth that were beneath the components of your braces will not have been whitened. Additional whitening might be required to achieve uniformity of colour.
Share19 April 2018
