Two Tips To Maintain Gum Health While Bleaching Your Teeth At Home

Bleaching your teeth at home after consulting with your dentist is a great way to significantly whiten your smile without spending too much money. But while most home bleaching products are safe to use regularly, improper application can potentially damage your fragile gums. So especially if you have a history of gum pain, take these two tips to maintain gum health while bleaching your teeth at home to heart.

Keep Excess Liquid On Whitening Strips Off Your Gums

A common way to whiten teeth at home involves the use of gum strips. These strips, while cheap and relatively easy to use, contain a very powerful liquid that will both suck up a lot of surface plaque on your teeth and cover the remainder to produce as bright a smile as possible.

Since this liquid is so caustic, you must do everything you can to ensure as little of it gets on your gums as possible. This is especially important for your gum line near the roots of your teeth. Even a small amount of this liquid will cause searing pain and contribute to gum line erosion.

Place these whitening strips on top of the tips of your teeth so that they're as far away from your gums as possible. To block or deflect any liquid that seeps downward, use either your own finger or a small strip of plastic.

If Possible, Get A Mouthpiece Mold For More Accurate Whitening

Making an appointment with your dentist so that you can get a mouthpiece mold specially built for bleaching your teeth will certainly be expensive. However, this is the best way to get as effective of a whitening job as possible. You'll also be able to mostly avoid collateral damage to your gums.

Your dentist will give you whitening foam in a can that you can spray on the mouthpiece before putting it in your mouth. Since this foam is much more powerful than the liquid on whitening strips, you'll have to adhere to your dentist's strict instructions on how long you should keep the mouthpiece in your mouth. Failure to follow these instructions will drastically increase the risk of excess foam making it onto your gum line.

While everyone wants a whiter smile, it's extremely important that you take all the necessary precautions to protect your gums. If you don't, you risk both short term pain and long term deterioration in overall dental health. Consult with a professional cosmetic dentist for any further information.