UV Teeth whitening

With everyone looking to get healthy teeth, one of the things that people are looking at is whitening. It’s something that’s been popular on the market for a while, combatting teeth that are stained or yellow to give them a beautiful sparkle to it. 

One element that’s gotten attention over the last couple of years or so that both influencers and celebrities enjoy, is at-home UV teeth whitening, which is a little bit pricey, but it offers an effective way to whiten your teeth. Is it effective and safe though? Find out here! 

How this Works 

This is similar to normal treatment at the office, which is basically a professional putting out a peroxide gel directly onto the teeth, and then putting a UV light on top of this. The gel with the light helps whiten teeth faster, and they’re also effective. The light-activated bleach process is definitely way more effective than those that don’t happen with light, and it lasts much longer. 

At home kits virtually work the same way. You put the gel on there, you put the UV light over this, and you do it for a few minutes every few days. They’re a bit pricier though than a whitening strip or toothpaste, that’s for sure. 

Is It Safe? 

Some people may wonder this. While the ADA does say that light-activated kinds of treatments are an option, the at-home kind is not what they mentioned, and this is something that also plays into tooth sensitivity. 

Another consideration is the lack of regulations surrounding this. The CDEC doesn’t have any direct regulations or recommendations, and that there are some precautions to look at this when using these kinds of kits. The kits do vary however based on instances. There are some regulation aspects too. For instance, European kits cannot have more than .1% peroxide within, but some allow for much stronger amounts. 

So for those that are interested in whether or not these are truly harmful, here’s what you have to know: it’s not clear, but if it has the ADA approval, then it’s probably safe, but usually these kids don’t, so it’s something to be mindful of. Another big issue with this is using the wrong kit  if it’s too extreme, causing a user error, it’ll burn and damage this. The ratio of the UV exposure to the gel does vary, and without a dentist’s consolidation, there is no threshold in place in terms of sensitivity. If you have too much gel at once, it can actually cause the gums to burn, which is a bit scary. 

What to Do if you burn yourself 

If you find you’ve burned yourself on one of these, tell your doctor right away, and also offer the kit so that they can figure out the right treatment. There are safer kinds, however. If you notice that you want to whiten your teeth, you can use a toothpaste that contains this, such as peroxide. You can also use whitening strips or other pens. 

Overall though, you should talk to the doctor about the right kind of way to do this. In-office treatments are some of the best, and you can also get a method that’s very safe. White UV whitening kits are something you may want, be mindful of this, and with the right treatment from your dentist, you can get the amazing smile without the potential risk of it possibly ruining you. 

Get the healthy teeth that you want that look nice and white, without possibly damaging the gums in the process, to keep them lasting longer too.