{"id":562,"date":"2016-07-16T00:50:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-16T04:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/?p=562"},"modified":"2016-07-16T00:50:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T04:50:50","slug":"five-things-know-whitening-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Few people would turn down a chance to have whiter teeth. Very few. You finally have the opportunity to get the Hollywood-white smile you\u2019ve always wanted. And it\u2019s way cheaper than you\u2019ve ever dreamed. The prices of do-it-yourself whitening kits make a bright smile more affordable than ever\u2014especially with online coupons and offers for free whitening. But before you bite into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/teeth-whitening\/\">teeth whitening scene<\/a>, there are five things you should know that can help you improve your smile and avoid damaging it.<\/p>\n<h2>1. What\u2019s the cause of those stains?<\/h2>\n<p>Why are your teeth stained? Are you a heavy coffee, tea, or wine drinker? Do you smoke frequently? These habits can stain your teeth, and it\u2019s likely that bleaching gel will brighten your smile. But if the cause for the stains in your teeth is medical or due to prescription drugs, bleaching them may have no effect at all. At times, it can make the stains worse.<\/p>\n<h2>2. What\u2019s in your whitening gel?<\/h2>\n<p>Not all gels are created equal. Professional-strength teeth whitening gel from a dentist contains carbamide peroxide. Some whitening agents that claim to brighten your teeth just don\u2019t do the job. Read the ingredients before you use the gel, and ensure it doesn\u2019t contain anything that will irritate your lips or gums, or that will cause an allergic reaction.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Does the gel or kit come with instructions?<\/h2>\n<p>How do you use it? How long should the gel stay on your teeth? These are things you should know before you start whitening your teeth. Stronger gels usually don\u2019t need to stay on your teeth overnight. They can make your teeth super sensitive to heat or cold, and the gel can burn your gums.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Custom bleaching trays make a difference<\/h2>\n<p>One-size-fits-all teeth whitening trays are misleading. Bleaching gel needs to stay in contact with your teeth to whiten your them. But it also needs to stay away from your gums. If the gel oozes out of the trays, ouch! Your gums will burn, baby burn. Ensure the bleaching trays you use are customized to fit your teeth.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Be patient<\/h2>\n<p>Did you know that you can actually over-bleach your teeth? The teeth whitening process should not go on and on. Follow the instructions. Whiten them for two weeks, or for the period specified in the instructions, and wait for the gel to continue to whiten before you proceed. If you whiten your teeth too much, they can dry out and become discolored.<\/p>\n<p>Whitening your teeth can be done safely and successfully. The best results are supervised by a dentist. Tell your dentist that you\u2019re thinking about getting your teeth whitened. He or she will likely offer some free advice based on the condition of your teeth that can help you consider your options and make a smart choice.<\/p>\n<p>This post is sponsored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/\">Lowell, MA cosmetic dentist<\/a> Dr. Michael Szarek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Few people would turn down a chance to have whiter teeth. Very few. You finally have the opportunity to get the Hollywood-white smile you\u2019ve always wanted. And it\u2019s way cheaper than you\u2019ve ever dreamed. The prices of do-it-yourself whitening kits make a bright smile more affordable than ever\u2014especially with online coupons and offers for free [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[250,473,476,146,478,438,479,477,475,474],"class_list":{"0":"post-562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-teeth-whitening","7":"tag-best-teeth-whitening","8":"tag-diy-teeth-whitening","9":"tag-free-teeth-whitening","10":"tag-lowell-teeth-whitening","11":"tag-stains-in-teeth","12":"tag-teeth-whitening-coupons","13":"tag-teeth-whitening-trays","14":"tag-what-you-should-know-before-whitening-teeth","15":"tag-whiten-my-own-teeth","16":"tag-whiten-teeth-at-home","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth - Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth - Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Few people would turn down a chance to have whiter teeth. Very few. You finally have the opportunity to get the Hollywood-white smile you\u2019ve always wanted. And it\u2019s way cheaper than you\u2019ve ever dreamed. The prices of do-it-yourself whitening kits make a bright smile more affordable than ever\u2014especially with online coupons and offers for free [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-16T04:50:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AllSmiles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AllSmiles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth - Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth - Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","og_description":"Few people would turn down a chance to have whiter teeth. Very few. You finally have the opportunity to get the Hollywood-white smile you\u2019ve always wanted. And it\u2019s way cheaper than you\u2019ve ever dreamed. The prices of do-it-yourself whitening kits make a bright smile more affordable than ever\u2014especially with online coupons and offers for free [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/","og_site_name":"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","article_published_time":"2016-07-16T04:50:50+00:00","author":"AllSmiles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AllSmiles","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/","name":"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth - Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-16T04:50:50+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-16T04:50:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8d711457dbe058686ca50a64f3091c35"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/five-things-know-whitening-teeth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Five Things You Should Know Before Whitening Your Own Teeth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/","name":"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","description":"Your cosmetic dentistry questions answered","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8d711457dbe058686ca50a64f3091c35","name":"AllSmiles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4871feb8d40502b614db766f8d98ebe87cf929ac5d4f943528110b3f2d298e54?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4871feb8d40502b614db766f8d98ebe87cf929ac5d4f943528110b3f2d298e54?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"AllSmiles"},"url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/author\/allsmiles\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":564,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}