What Causes Teeth to Stain?
Your teeth are made of enamel, which is a crystal structure.  Inside and between these crystal molecules are spaces which make the tooth porous.  Stains are when these There are two basic kinds of stain, intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic stain is caused by organic molecules from coffee, tea, ketchup, cigarettes, cigars, wine.....basically anything that can stain a shirt....penetrate into your enamel and cause it to appear darker.  These stains cause the teeth to appear yellow or brown.   These stains are usually limited to the outer enamel and do not penetrated through the tooth.

Extrinsic stains are caused by a chemical or drug ingested while your teeth are developing and are part of the tooth.  The most common is Tetracycline staining and it appears dark grey, other drugs may cause a dark brown or red stain to the teeth.  Sometimes chemicals from your drinking water can cause deep red or brown streaks on your teeth.

Another type of extrinsic stain comes from silver fillings.  Silver fillings leach out corrosion products that will stain the dentin grey or black.  Many time this stained dentin is also decayed.  Sometimes if it is not decayed the stain penetrates too deep and is impossible to remove.  These teeth need crowns or veneers to eliminate the unsightly stain.

How Does Bleaching Work?
Bleaching uses Hydrogen Peroxide to break down dark organic molecules in the teeth that cause stain through an oxidation reaction.  This reaction breaks the large stain molecule into smaller pieces that can be "rinsed out" of the enamel.

There are two kinds of bleach material, hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide.  The differences is carbamide peroxide lasts longer in your mouth and can be used overnight.

Methods of Bleaching:

• Whitening toothpaste
• Over the counter bleach
• Professional take home "tray" bleach
• In office one hour bleaching
• Deep Bleaching™

Whitening toothpaste remove surface stains only through the use of abrasives and chemicals, such as sodium tripolyphosphate, that help break down or dissolve stains.  While they will get your teeth a little whiter it is not that WOW white that most people want.  In addition they can cause sensitivity of the teeth and gums in some people.

Over the counter bleach such as Crest Whitestrips and Rembrandt use hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide but they are in very low concentrations so the gums are not damaged.  Because they do not seal to the teeth the peroxide is quickly neutralized by your saliva.  In addition if your teeth are not clean the peroxide cannot penetrate to the enamel, even a thin plaque layer will render the bleach useless.

Professional take home "tray" bleaches work well if the tray is fabricated well.  After you brush your teeth the tray is loaded with bleaching gel and placed on your teeth for a minimum of one half hour, or all night.  This depends on the type and concentration of bleaching gel and your particular sensitivity level.  Over time this can get your teeth brilliant white.

In office one hour bleaching is very popular.  Your gums are protected with a plastic material and a high concentration bleach is placed on the clean teeth.  A light is sometimes used to "activate" the bleach however there is no proof that a light actually helps at all.  The bleach is changed one to four times.  In one hour it does the same as the take home "trays" will do in two weeks.

The problem with these methods are:

• Sensitivity
• Unpredictable change
• Both of these are solved with Deep Bleaching™.

Sensitive Teeth
Gums "burn" from the hydrogen peroxide and turn white.  The stronger the whitening agent the more likely your gums will burn.  If it is a slight burn then they gum that is effected will slough off after a couple of days and new gum tissue will replace it.  It can be irritating while they are healing.  With in office bleaching a plastic protectant is placed on the gums so the strong bleach cannot touch the gums.

More commonly the sensitivity is with the tooth itself.  Teeth have layers, we are bleaching the outer layer or enamel.  The inner layer, dentin, has tubes all through it that a nerve lives in.  When that nerve is disturbed through cold, sweets or air the nerve is stimulated and you feel pain.  As the hydrogen peroxide penetrates the tooth and removes the stain it also make the tooth more permeable and thereby sensitive to painful stimuli.  

Teeth can be so sensitive after aggressive bleaching that "zingers" can develop.  This is where a tooth has a random shooting pain through it during or after bleaching.

Deep Bleaching™ solves the sensitivity issue by using a specific desensitizes along with mild over the counter pain relievers while the bleaching process is taking place.

Unpredictable Change
This is by FAR they most frustrating part of bleaching and is what led me to study bleaching to find an answer.  Many times a patient would come in for bleaching and we would only change one or two shades.  Other patients doing the same bleaching process get HOLLYWOOD WOW WHITE!  Why the difference?

It has to do with the nature of the stain and the permeability of the teeth.  The only system that can deliver significant, predictable whitening with little to no sensitivity is Deep Bleaching™.  Through the detailed system you can get WOW White!

• Learn More About The Secret of Deep Bleaching™