teeth whitening that works

Can You Really “Hack” Your Way To A Whiter Smile?

May 1, 2016

Spend much time on the internet and you’re probably going to find some reference to “lifehacking.” This phenomenon stems from the idea that much of what we do has become too complicated, and that there are simple solutions available that can save time, money, and effort.

In some cases these “hacks” are true. In other cases they’re questionable at best, such as with several popular teeth whitening hacks that can be easily found online.

At Really Smile Dentistry we want you to get the smile you’ve always dreamed of. In many cases that means you’ll need professional whitening treatment, like the kind we offer at our Carmel office. Take a look at these whitening tricks for yourself, but don’t expect to get the results you’ve always wanted from them!

Peroxide And Baking Soda: Can It Whiten Teeth?

If you’ve spent any time looking into ways to whiten your teeth you’ve probably noticed that hydrogen peroxide is the best way to do it. But don’t assume that brushing your teeth with a mixture of that and baking soda will be enough to whiten your teeth – it simply isn’t!

The hydrogen peroxide gels that are used to whiten your teeth are far stronger than the stuff in that brown bottle. On top of that you won’t even have time to whiten with it – saliva neutralizes hydrogen peroxide really fast!

Baking soda, on the other hand, has been reported to have at least some minimal bleaching effect. Using it repeatedly can actually damage your enamel though, so we advise against trying to whiten your teeth with it. Leave it as a last resort for the days you run out of toothpaste instead.

Mysterious Ancient Medicine: Can It Bleach Your Smile?

In the ancient Ayurvedic medicine system there’s a practice known as oil pulling. It involves using a natural oil, like coconut oil, to clean your mouth by swishing it. After ten to twenty minutes of swishing, they say, you should have a clean set of teeth and be on your way to a whiter smile.

The reality of the situation is a bit different. Sure, oil pulling can get some bacteria off your teeth and even pull dead cells off of your gums, but it isn’t tough enough to remove stains from your teeth. The only thing you’re really going to get from oil pulling, aside from sore cheeks, is a vitamin boost from having oil in your mouth for so long.

Many oil pulling advocates believe that the practice is sufficient for regular oral hygiene, but don’t be mistaken: you need to be brushing and flossing even if you oil pull. The jury might be out on the clinical effectiveness of oil pulling, but practical knowledge says that you can skip the swishing and stick to tried and true methods.

Citrus And Bananas: Do Their Peels Contain Whitening Power?

One of the sillier rumors floating around the internet is that you can whiten your teeth by rubbing them with the inside of a banana or citrus peel. There are various reasons why one method is preferred over the other, but the results are generally the same: nothing.

Some people have reported seeing real results from banana peels, and there is a reason for that: the magnesium and potassium in banana peels can temporarily polish the surfaces of your teeth. In just a few minutes away from the mirror that shine will fade, leaving your teeth looking the same as they did before.

Citrus is just a plain bad idea. The acid in the peels – which is reportedly the thing that bleaches your teeth – causes your enamel to soften and erode just like plaque bacteria does! Repeat exposure to citrus peels as a whitener is sure to get you some kind of result: a cavity.

How To Really Whiten Your Teeth

There’s only one way that’s been proven to whiten teeth again and again: professional whitening with a hydrogen peroxide gel. When you come to our Carmel office to whiten your teeth you’re getting a system that’s custom tailored to your wants and needs, not some over-the-counter or internet DIY stuff.

We’ve been creating great, shining smiles for years at Really Smile Dentistry, and we’d love to show you what we can do with yours. We’re confident that you’ll be amazed with your new look – and all without rubbing banana peels on your face.

Give us a call today at 317-451-4050 or request an appointment online. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Important Questions To Ask About Teeth Whitening

April 25, 2016

You would probably having a hard time finding someone who didn’t want to whiten their smile at least a bit. The stains of coffee, wine, tea, and other foods build up on our teeth and end up causing them to become dull, grey, or even yellow.

Finding a teeth whitening solution that works can seem difficult, or even impossible, but that’s because you’ve probably been looking in the wrong places. Here’s some questions to ask and things to be aware of when you want to get results the first time.

1: Does Over-The-Counter Teeth Whitening Work?

We’ve talked about this before, and the answer still stands: commercial teeth whitening kits are a crapshoot at best. While you can get results from them it’s difficult to really get what you want. There’s a number of things stacked against commercial teeth whitening kits, none of which are problems if you get whitening done at our Carmel dentist office.

Commercial whitening isn’t as strong as the products we can prescribe. You simply won’t be able to get the same dramatic whitening we can provide.
Whitening trays in over-the-counter kits aren’t designed to fit your mouth, so they won’t seal in whitening gel properly. This weakens the gel or completely eliminates the whitening effect!
Whitening gels are unstable, and if they’re left to sit they’ll get weaker. Who knows how long that kit you bought has been on the shelf, but it’s not going to be as strong as something fresh!

2: What’s In My Whitening Gel And Why Does It Work?

When it comes down to real whitening with real results there’s only one thing that really does the trick: hydrogen peroxide. Professional whitening products all use hydrogen peroxide because it’s so effective at breaking down the molecules that cause stains.

Other products, like carbamide peroxide, still rely on hydrogen peroxide to do the job. Remember how we said that whitening gels left on the shelf lose strength? That’s because hydrogen peroxide is so unstable. Add a urea molecule to it, however, and you’ve got carbamide peroxide, something way more durable.

With durability comes a loss of potency, which is why professional whitening products avoid using anything besides the real deal. Check out the whitening kits at the store – most of them are carbamide, and if they aren’t they’re just weakened hydrogen peroxide. You’re losing out either way.

3: How Do I Know Professional Whitening Will Work?

Aside from the years and years of great whitening results we have to show for it there’s the added knowledge that you’re getting a plan custom tailored to your unique needs. The strength of whitening gels can vary vastly from product to product – even in the professional whitening world. That’s why we always perform an exam and consultation that allows us to select the right product for you.

When you get a professional whitening treatment at Really Smile Dentistry you’re getting something just as customized as any other treatment we provide. From the gel to the custom-made whitening trays, everything comes together to work perfectly for YOU!

4: Do I Need To Constantly Whiten My Teeth?

Let’s be realistic: no amount of bleaching, erasing, or correcting can eliminate wear and tear permanently. Your teeth get a lot of use, and there’s no way that teeth whitening is going to be permanent. As you continue to eat, drink, and live life your teeth will become stained, but whitening can turn back the clock again and again!

The teeth whitening we’re able to perform at our Carmel office breaks up stain particles and keeps your smile white and bright for a long time, but if you continue to smoke, drink coffee or wine, and eat foods that discolor your teeth you won’t have that new shade of white forever. The bottom line is that your white smile will last longer if you ditch some of those staining foods.

Real Whitening Is Possible

Whitening teeth isn’t exactly a fine science – hydrogen peroxide removes stains, period. The tricky part is getting the solution that’s strong enough for your unique needs, custom built to fit your unique mouth, and convenient enough to not be a burden.

The whitening we offer at Really Smile Dentistry is exactly that. We’re confident that you’ll love the results that you get in just a few weeks of nightly whitening treatments. Don’t wait another day to come see us – that white smile is as close as your next appointment!

Call our Carmel office at 317-451-4050 or request an appointment online. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Teeth Whitening: What To Watch Out For

December 1, 2015

Bleaching your teeth can be a real hit or miss, can’t it? If you believe that’s the case then you might not realize how easy it actually can be to get a bright, white smile. The problem lies in the most common whitening products available and how poorly they actually work.

Teeth whitening is always best done in a dentist office like Really Smile Dentistry! Our Indianapolis dentist office is equipped to provide great professional results that are consistent, reliable, and really work. If you’re skeptical of teeth whitening we want to share some of the most common reasons that over-the-counter teeth whitening doesn’t work.

Whitening Gels Are Sensitive

Pick up a whitening kit at the drugstore and it probably uses a familiar system: whitening gel placed in trays that you wear in the evenings for a few weeks. While the basics of a tray and gel system are the traditional method of whitening teeth there’s a big problem with most commercial whitening kits: they don’t fit!

That might not seem like a big deal but in reality it’s a good way to ruin your whitening gel. Hydrogen peroxide the active ingredient in most whitening products, is very sensitive. While we do want it to break down into water and oxygen in your mouth (that’s what scrubs the stains away) we don’t want it to happen all at once!

Think about that bottle of peroxide in your medicine cabinet: it’s opaque, right? That’s because hydrogen peroxide is so unstable light can ruin it! And that’s not the only thing either: saliva breaks it down almost instantly! Whitening trays that don’t fit right are almost guaranteed to let saliva in, resulting in uneven, splotchy, or completely ineffective whitening.

The trays we use at our Indianapolis dentist office are custom build from an impression of your teeth. They’ll fit great, ensuring an even distribution of gel, and they also are designed to really seal the gel in, keeping saliva out completely!

Don’t Be Fooled By Alternative Treatments

There’s a reason hydrogen peroxide is the gold standard of teeth whitening: it works. Between it and carbamide peroxide they are the only substances that have delivered consistent, reliable results to patients who want genuinely whiter smiles.

Between hydrogen and carbamide peroxide you should definitely seek out the former. While both do work to whiten teeth, carbamide peroxide needs to first break down into hydrogen peroxide and urea. This results in far less hydrogen peroxide, making it less effective. Unfortunately, many over-the-counter whitening products use carbamide because of its increased level of stability. Hydrogen peroxide is also sensitive to sitting on the shelf for too long!

At Really Smile Dentistry we only use hydrogen peroxide gels. Ours are far stronger than the products you can buy over-the-counter because the products we use are applied under the supervision of trained professionals. You simply can’t expect the results we provide from a kit you buy at the store!

Watch Out For Gimmicks

There are a lot of ways whitening products try to entice you: LED lights, fancy packaging, dissolving strips, and heating items all promise to change the face of teeth whitening with their unique innovations. Do these products improve the at-home whitening process? Some might. But can they compete with the effectiveness of a simple tray and gel whitening procedure performed at the dentist? No.

All these products have one thing in common: they’re trying to counter the fact that the whitening products aren’t as strong. You might get some improved results but they still fall short of the application and precision of professional whitening at our Indianapolis dentist office.

Get Real Results On The First Try

Our advanced teeth whitening can create results you’ll see after just one appointment. It’s hard to beat that: just a couple of hours in the dental chair can get you a white smile you’ll be truly proud to show off. We take pride in the whitening results we deliver to our patients and we’re excited to give you the chance to experience them as well!

Don’t spend time and money chasing down the perfect whitening system when we can get you the results you’re looking for right in Indianapolis. Call Really Smile Dentistry today to get teeth whitening you can rely on!

You can reach us at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Get The Bright White Smile You’ve Always Wanted!

October 29, 2015

Teeth whitening sure does seem like a racket, doesn’t it? All those new systems promising amazing results in less time … and what do they actually provide? If you’ve tried over-the-counter teeth whitening you’ve probably been left feeling like you were taken for a ride. Even some professional systems work “so-so.”

At Really Smile Dentistry we have whitening that works. Period. It does what it’s supposed to because our teeth whitening system addresses a lot of the problems that others ones have and fixes them! If you’re looking for teeth whitening that really gets the job done then look no further – it’s right here in Carmel, IN!

Teeth Whitening: What’s The Big Idea?

A lot of things about teeth whitening haven’t changed over time because they don’t need to! The biggest one of those is the whitening gel made from hydrogen peroxide. It works when used correctly, but unfortunately for many whitening systems it doesn’t get that chance!

Hydrogen peroxide whitening gel is very unstable. It needs to be that way to make whitening work, however, because the breakdown into oxygen and water is what makes the whitening actually happen! But because hydrogen peroxide gel is so unstable there are a lot of problems that go along with using it!

One of the biggest issues that face teeth whitening systems is that instability. It’s so sensitive that even your saliva weakens it! For anyone that’s ended up with splotchy, uneven whitening that might be your cause!

How We Fix Whitening Problems

We still use hydrogen peroxide gel but it’s all in how we apply it to your teeth! At your first whitening appointment we take an impression of your mouth which we use to craft custom whitening trays. The trays are designed to keep whitening gel in and lock saliva out, giving you a whitening experience that’s completely effective!

We conduct our whitening sessions in our Carmel office so that we can ensure everything goes exactly as it should. We place the trays in your mouth and let them sit for several minutes to let them do their magic! Once your whitening has completed we’ll clean your mouth out and take a look along with you to determine if you’re happy with the level of results.

You could be leaving our office with a newly brightened set of teeth after just one appointment! If you aren’t completely satisfied with your results we’ll be more than happy to schedule you for a second whitening session. For people with deep or dark stains it can take several treatments to restore your teeth to natural color!

Avoiding Sensitivity

Lots of patients who want whitening are concerned about sensitivity. Sensitivity most commonly results from whitening gels making contact with the gums. Your gums are very sensitive and the whitening gels can irritate them quite a bit, even causing soreness in your teeth!

We combat whitening sensitivity by using our custom-fit whitening trays! These trays form a tight barrier between teeth and gums so that no gel makes contact with anything but teeth! The result is a sensitivity-free and beautifully white smile!

What Are You Waiting For?

If you’ve been burned by teeth whitening promises before we can understand how you feel. We’re sure we can get you real results that will create a smile you’ve never dreamed possible! All it takes is that first phone call to schedule your whitening consultation.

So what are you waiting for? Call Really Smile Dentistry today! You can reach us at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!

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