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Why not? Because they’ll yellow your teeth eventually. They contain abrasive ingredients like baking soda, which scrape off a little bit of tooth enamel by way of “whitening” your teeth. At first, you might think your teeth look a little whiter. But over the months and years, as enamel is gradually removed, the layer below the enamel will show more and more. That layer is the dentin, which is yellow.

There’s a health issue here too. The less enamel you have over each tooth, the less protection you have from tooth decay and toothache. That sturdy enamel needs to be retained, rather than slowly removed.

So look for a toothpaste that does not have the word “whitening” on the box or label.

How can tooth enamel be effectively whitened?
Teeth whiten only while they are in contact with a whitening agent. So even putting aside the issue of abrasive ingredients, toothpaste can never be effective in whitening teeth unless you spend about 45 minutes each day brushing.

Instead, you could wear a customized tray for those 45 minutes, which contains professional strength whitening gel. Then you would see very noticeable results within days or a week or two, depending on how discolored your teeth are to begin with.

1. Take-home whitening kits
Your cosmetic dentist can give you a take-home tooth whitening kit for just a modest cost. He would first have two trays made for you, from molds he would take of your upper and lower teeth. These trays will fit evenly and closely around your individual teeth. Therefore the whitening gel in your kit will be in even and close contact with your teeth, giving a smooth, bright result.

What’s in the kit?
Besides your two custom-made trays in a little container, there will be:
· Several syringes of whitening gel. You and your cosmetic dentist can first discuss how strong the gel should be. If your teeth are particularly sensitive, you can choose a moderate-strength gel, or an even weaker one. If you have more sturdy teeth, the strongest gel would be appropriate. The syringes have marks showing how much gel to use each time.
· A shade strip with places for you to mark the shade of your teeth when you begin and when you finish. Just hold it up next to your teeth to compare them to the shade choices on the strip.
· A syringe of de-sensitizing gel in case your teeth do get a bit sensitive. You can stop using the whitening gel, and use this de-sensitizing gel in the trays for a day or two.
· Instructions on how to use the kit.

Wear the trays for about 45 minutes each day and you’ll be astonished at the results.

2. Zoom! In-Office Teeth Whitening
If you’d like to get the job done quickly and not bother about wearing trays for a week or two, a Zoom! whitening treatment is the answer. In one visit of about 90 minutes, it can all be finished. The treatment itself takes an hour, and there’s a little time for preparation and a check-up afterwards.

After you’re comfortably settled, your dentist would first paint a protective gel on the gums and lips (or use a rubber guard). Then the whitening gel is applied to the teeth and a special light directed on it for 20 minutes. This is done twice more. If your teeth become too sensitive during this treatment, it will be stopped and a desensitizing agent applied.

At the end of that hour, you have a bright new smile. To follow up your cosmetic dentist will give you a take-home kit with more whitening gel and two trays. You can use this to brighten your teeth even further, or for later touch-ups.

The secret of successful teeth whitening is to use professional-strength gel, and trays that fit closely around each tooth. The quickest way is in-office, but the at-home method works as well, just taking longer. If you also have minor defects in your front teeth, like chips, slight crookedness, mis-matched sizes, or a gap between them, porcelain veneers are a very popular way to both correct those defects and give your teeth a new bright surface.

About the Author: For more information and a personal consultation, speak to an experienced cosmetic dentist such as Dr. Deric D. Ikuta or Dr. Dennis D. Ikuta.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Dental bonding is a procedure performed by a cosmetic dentist in which a tooth-colored resin material is applied and hardened with a special light bonding the material to the tooth to restore and/or improve a person’s smile. Dental bonding is also referred to as cosmetic bonding. Dental bonding is a procedure done by your cosmetic dentist to correct the following dental problems:

· To improve the appearance of discolored teeth
· To close gaps between teeth
· To repair chipped or cracked teeth
· To repair decayed teeth
· To alter the shape of teeth
· To protect a portion of the tooth root that has been exposed after gums recede

Dental bonding is a very simple procedure that requires very little advanced preparation. Anesthesia is usually not necessary unless the bonding is intended to fill a decayed tooth. Your cosmetic dentist will show you a shade guide to select a composite resin color that will match the color of your natural teeth.

During the dental bonding process, the surface of the tooth will be roughened and a liquid to condition the tooth will be applied. This helps the bonding material to adhere to the tooth being bonded. The tooth-colored resin is applied, molded and smoothed to the desired shape. Then, an ultraviolet light is used to harden the material; after the material is hardened, your dentist will trim and shape the bonding and polish it up to match the shine of the rest of the tooth’s surface. The procedure typically takes 30-60 minutes from start to finish.

There are many advantages to dental bonding including bonding is one of the least expensive cosmetic procedures you can have done. Also, bonding can be done in just one office visit, whereas crowns and porcelain veneers must be manufactured in a laboratory. Another advantage to bonding is that only a very little bit of tooth enamel is removed, and anesthesia is not required (unless it’s for a filling).

The disadvantages of dental bonding are minimal. Dental bonding does not resist stains as well as crowns do, and dental bonding does not last as long as other restorative procedures such as veneers and fillings. In rare instances, bonding materials have been known to chip and break off the tooth.

Many cosmetic dentists view dental bonding as best suited for minor cosmetic changes and for correction of teeth in areas of very low bite pressure such as the front teeth. Because bonding can chip, it is very important to avoid nail biting, gum chewing, chewing ice and other hard foods.

About the Author: To learn more about how dental bonding can fix the gap between your teeth or many other dental problems, please call or email the Colonial Dental Group serving patients in and around Chicago, Illinois.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Although we in the United States have access to the most advanced dental care in the world, there is at least one area where we seem to be among the worst in the world: malocclusion. The consensus among comprehensive dentists is that the majority of the population suffers from bad bite. In other words, our teeth do not properly line up, leading to functional dental problems in chewing, inordinate tooth wear, and accelerated dental decay, in addition to cosmetic problems in our smile.

Thus, while most of the population of non-industrialized countries has appropriate bite alignment, those of us in industrialized countries generally suffer from a misalignment of our jaw. The biggest question is why would this be so? Why would countries with such expensive and advanced dental care systems suffer from so many problems in our teeth? A recent editorial in the trade journal for specialists in neuromuscular dentistry, LVI Visions, explains why.

Breathe Easy

The primary causative factor in the development of bad bite is airway obstruction during childhood. Exposure to allergens during childhood, including food allergies like chocolate, milk, and wheat, as well as environmental allergies like dust and pet dander that build up in the enclosed air systems utilized in Western societies, causes children to produce excess mucous, leading to runny noses and, more importantly, to a buildup of mucous in the back of the throat. This mucous impairs the functionality of cilia, tiny tentacles that line the throat, beating 10 to 20 times a second to drive bacteria and other foreign bodies down the throat to be swallowed.

When the cilia can’t do their job, foreign matter accumulates in the back of the throat, and bacteria grow into large colonies, forcing the tonsils and adenoids to work harder to fight this incipient infection. When the tonsils and adenoids work this hard, they overdevelop, or hypertrophy, making it difficult for people to breathe through their nose and causing them to become mouth-breathers.

Mouth Breathing and Malocclusion

Mouth breathing is the immediate culprit in the development of malocclusion. During development, the body is seeking the appropriate balance between the sphincter action of the buccinator muscles, which flatten our cheeks and push our jaws inward, and the outward pushing of our tongue, the strongest muscle in the human body. When children breathe through their mouths, their tongue is often placed out of position for supporting its side of the conflict. This leads to a constriction of the arch of the child’s jaw.

In addition, the tongue can rest over where the back teeth are supposed to erupt, hampering the process and forcing the body to move the jaw back in order to properly get the rear teeth together, leading to a general overbite tendency in the population.

Furthermore, the development fostered by this process leads to mouth-breathing for the rest of that child’s life in two ways. First, the tongue that now has insufficient room in the arch of the jaw is forced backward into the throat, leading to more constriction of the airway that is rectified with mouth-breathing. Second, the constriction of the arch of the jaw also leads to a high palate that constructs the turbinate space in the airways. This means that any swelling in the sinuses can restrict or block the airway, again forcing mouth breathing.

What Can Be Done

Neuromuscular dentists are already doing their part. They have made a commitment to recognizing the early stages of malocclusion and trying to rectify it before it causes too many serious problems for a child. This includes not only dental treatment, but correction of snoring problems as well. You can do your part by making sure your child sees a dentist as early as age 2, but definitely by age 3. Whenever possible, take preventive actions, not only following your dentist’s advice, but working to reduce allergens around the home. Some ways to reduce allergens in your home include:

· Reduce carpeting and soft furniture
· Improve ventilation
· Use a dehumidifier
· Keep Central heating low
· Use High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters and vacuum cleaners
· Try to reduce dust mites and pet dander without introducing unnecessary chemicals

If you do these things, you can help your children avoid the lifelong problems that come with malocclusion, including not only dental problems, but facial pain, headaches, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and unexplained tingling in the arms and hands.

About the Author: For more information on how to prevent and/or treat malocclusion, consult the web page of Pittsburgh-area neuromuscular dentist Alexandra S. George.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com