Toll Free: 1-877-243-6853
Making the World a Gentler Place, One Smile at a Time.
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Toll Free: 1-877-243-6853 |
Making the World a Gentler Place, One Smile at a Time. |
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See GentleWhite Products featured in the March, 2006 Issue of:
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The illusion of over-the-counter whitening. Teeth bleaching began 2000 years ago when the Romans started brushing their teeth with urine the ammonia acted as a bleaching agent. So teeth bleaching and the willingness of patients to suffer for it is nothing new. What is new is GentleWhite, the first family of high-powered dental whiteners that bleach teeth without discomfort. By federal regulation, retail, over-the-counter whitening preparations are limited to a 5.5% concentration of hydrogen peroxide or equivalent. Active ingredient content in materials dispensed or used by dental professionals is unlimited, and today are often more than six times this strength. Despite advertising claims to the contrary, over the counter whitening formulations simply cannot do as good a job of bleaching teeth as can those supplied by dental professionals. Playing the numbers game.Many product categories try to sway consumers and decision makers with a simple number, be it horsepower in a car or watts in an audio system or processor speed in a computer. Dental whitening is no exception. The key number here is the percent of active ingredient. But, just like with the examples cited above, there is more to the story than just a number. Most whitening compounds use Carbamide Peroxide as their active ingredient. CP breaks down to Hydrogen Peroxide in use, but Carbamide Peroxide's active concentration is equivalent to only about one third that of Hydrogen Peroxide. Consequently, a whitening compound that is 21% Carbamide Peroxide is only about 7% Hydrogen Peroxide. Most dentists dont know this, and are just as swayed as anyone else by a bigger number that alludes to some kind of peroxide. (Most patients and dentists assume Carbamide Peroxide and Hydrogen Peroxide are equivalent.)
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