There’s a variety of gel whiteners out on the market today; most are of good quality and will whiten teeth up to 8 shades whiter. There are more expensive ways that require you to make a mold of your mouth, send the mold back so that the company can custom fit a tray to ensure the best fit, comfort, and effectiveness. Alternatively, if you ask a dentist to do so, he will take a mold of your teeth and mouth, then make a tray based on that mold.
There are less expensive “one size more or less fits all” which takes a basic tooth/gum shape and sends that out as part of a kit. These may not fit as well as a custom fitted tray.
When you have a working tray, you put a proscribed amount of whitening gel into the tray and leave it in for a given amount of time. This process can get messy, but it is among the best at-home whitening methods. There is an amusing anecdote that I shared with you, reader, about a friend of mine who had sat down with a tube full of teeth whitener gel in his back pocket! This won’t happen to everyone, rather, it is very effective. In fact, it is ideal for more drastic whitening measures than teeth whitening pens or strips.
The gel is generally a solution of carbamide peroxide, and the strength depends on the percentage of this product is contained in the solution. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read the product label to find out how strong the solution is. If there is too much carbamide peroxide in a solution, then there is the potential for chemical burns, rebounding, and a host of other problems. The less strong products are usually about 6% solution of carbamide peroxide, which gives you a general rule of thumb to follow.
Certainly, teeth whitener gel can be a very useful tool to drastically whiten teeth without becoming over-white. Please note the packaging may have useful information when you purchase a teeth whitening gel system.
