What’s the one thing that’s worse than stained and discoloured teeth? The answer – using a DIY teeth whitening kit only to see absolutely no difference whatsoever.
These days, home teeth whitening kits are available in just about every shape, size and specification imaginable. Not to mention, prices that range from the sublime to the well and truly ridiculous. Most manufacturers would have us think that their products represent the miracle solutions to brighter, whiter teeth for all. In reality however, thousands of people use teeth whitening kits every day and find themselves more than little disappointed with the results.
The question being – why?
As for most things to do with health and wellbeing, specific reasons for teeth whitening failures vary from one person to the next. Nevertheless, in at least 99% of cases, the reason your home teeth whitening project didn’t work can be attributed to one or more of the following:
Poor Quality Products
First of all – not to mention most likely of all – it could simply be that you invested in a substandard kit in the first place. Make no mistake about it, there’s a very good reason why some kits sell for £5 and others will set you back more than £100. On one hand, paying a higher price doesn’t necessarily guarantee spectacular results. Nevertheless, paying pennies for a substandard kit containing the shoddiest hardware on the market pretty much guarantees failure. As always, the best thing to do is heed the advice of the reviews and recommendations left by past and present customers. If there’s any indication that the kit in question isn’t up to scratch, there is no point wasting your money on it.
Incorrect Use
In many instances, the problem comes not down to the kit itself, but how it was used. Which for obvious reasons tends to be more problematic for newcomers to teeth whitening than others. Every kit supplied by a reputable manufacturer will come with a complete and clear set of instructions. If you follow these instructions to the letter, chances are it will get the job done. If you don’t bother to read the instructions or choose to ignore them, you are setting yourself up for failure. From the mixing and application of the whitening gels to the length of time they need to be left in contact with the teeth and so on, try to remember that all such guidelines are provided for your benefit.
Heavily Stained Teeth
If you have particularly heavily stained teeth which haven’t been treated with whitening products before, you may need to gauge your expectations realistically. More often than not, teeth whitening kits are supplied with something of a grading guide to help. Roughly translated, a small illustration which shows how white you can expect your teeth to be afterwards, in accordance with how discoloured they were beforehand. For teeth that are only slightly stained or discoloured, even the most basic home whitening kits can produce outstanding results. By contrast, teeth that are drastically discoloured or stained may not respond nearly as well to many whitening kits. In such cases, it may be necessary to repeat the whitening treatment when safe to do so, as many times as required. Alternatively, you may simply need a better-quality kit with a stronger whitening solution.
Poor Aftercare
For some, it isn’t a case of being disappointed with the results immediately after the treatment has been carried out. Instead, it’s the way in which the results that appeared impressive in the first instance quickly fade and disappear. More often than not however, this has nothing to do with the quality or effectiveness of the whitening kit itself. Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that those concerned may not have bothered following the required aftercare guidelines. For an unspecified amount of time after whitening your teeth, the pores on the surface of the teeth from which the stains were extracted remain open. Which in turn means that if you start guzzling red wine, coffee, tea and anything else that has a habit of staining teeth, that’s exactly what it’s going to do. The same also going for tobacco smoking, which can reverse the effects of even the most outstanding whitening kits in no time at all.
Counterfeit Products
Though relatively rare compared to the other entries on this list, counterfeit teeth whitening kits do exist. On the plus side, buying from a reputable manufacturer and sticking with a brand you can trust means never having to worry about potentially dangerous fakes. However, if you buy online from unknown resellers based abroad, it’s impossible to guarantee the authenticity or quality of the products you purchase. If you suspect for even a moment that any of your oral health and hygiene products may be counterfeit, the best advice is to dispose of them immediately. Given that you don’t know where they came from, you also don’t have any idea what’s in them and the kind of damage they could cause were you to use them.
Lack of Compatibility
Last but not least, there’s always the outside chance that the kit you chose was outstanding, you followed the instructions to the letter and your approach to aftercare was impeccable. And yet still, no real results whatsoever. Unfortunately, there will always be some people for whom certain approaches to teeth whitening simply do not work. Which means that even if you do everything right from start to finish, this doesn’t necessarily guarantee a gleaming result. On the plus side, there are always alternative options to explore should this be the case. The best advice being to get in touch with your dentist, in order to discuss professional whitening treatments and anything else that could prove effective. Chances are that sooner or later, you’ll find an approach that gives you the bright white smile you’ve been dreaming of!
