Choosing The Best Whitening Paste For Your Teeth

If you have stained teeth, then you can speak with a dental professional about options to whiten your smile. When you talk with a cosmetic dentist, you may learn about traditional and laser whitening options. During the explanation, you may learn that it is wise to go through the treatment only about once every three to six months. If you drink a lot of coffee, tea, or wine, then you may notice that your teeth become stained soon after the treatment is over. If so, use a whitening toothpaste in between treatments. There are many products on the market, so follow the tips below to find the best one. 

Choose A Paste With A Medium Abrasive Agent

Whitening toothpastes remove food debris and stains by scraping them from the teeth. The toothpaste contains gritty substances to help with this and the ingredients are called abrasives. There are many different abrasive agents that may be mixed into your toothpaste. These include baking soda, calcium carbonate, sea salt, aluminum oxide, and silica. These ingredients range in strength from soft to hard. The softer ingredients include baking soda and sea salt and these abrasives are seen in all-natural or sensitive mouth pastes.

Aluminum oxide is a common abrasive you may see and it is contained in many whitening pastes. However, the ingredient is quite hard on the teeth and so is silica. The abrasives can cause the enamel to thin. This can create sensitivity issues and lead to decay in the future. If you want to avoid these problems, but still want to whiten the teeth, then opt for a product with calcium carbonate. The material is hard enough to remove stains, but it is less likely to damage your dental enamel. 

Another good solution to keep the teeth whiter is to opt for a tartar control toothpaste instead of one that is directly marketed as a whitening product. Consider a paste with one of the milder abrasives as well. Tartar is often what causes the teeth to appear yellow. As plaque develops, the material calcifies on the teeth and turns into the hard tartar. The tartar is a beige color when it develops, but it is translucent when it creates a thin layer over the enamel. Once the tartar builds thicker on the teeth, it becomes more yellow and opaque. Tartar control toothpastes stop layer of tartar from forming by helping to break down plaque so it can be washed away easily.

Look For A Product With Carbamide Peroxide

Carbamide peroxide is the bleaching agent that is placed on the teeth when a professional whitening is completed. This is the substance that bubbles and forces the stains from the teeth. When you go into your dentist's office for the whitening, a strong concentration of the peroxide is used. This is why the whitening results you see are so drastic and quick.

While it is not healthy to use high concentrations of carbamide peroxide on the teeth on a daily basis, smaller amounts and concentrations can be used successful to keep the teeth white. In this way, you are spacing out the whitening over several months. This is essentially what you are doing when you buy a whitening toothpaste that contains carbamide peroxide. 

Carbamide peroxide breaks down into hydrogen peroxide once it activates, and the ADA says that the ingredient is safe for use, especially in small amounts. This means that you can and should look for a whitening toothpaste with carbamide peroxide to whiten the teeth. If you want to be sure that the paste is safe, then look for the ADA seal on the box. Use the paste once a day to keep stains off the teeth. Preferably, use it in the morning when a great deal of plaque and other debris has settled on the teeth.