In searching for tooth whitening products, you can find that they all have one thing in common—they all have to be properly used. Lets take a look at tooth whitening trays and gels and how the gel should be applied.

Whitening Gels – The best results come from getting a fitted tray. You can either obtain these from your local dentist, a company who sells them, or you can get a mouth guard from a sports store. The mouth guard would need to be boiled to fit with your mouth. The best results would come from the fitted tray, but the mouth guard will work just as well. You will be ultimately placing the gel directly on your teeth.

Whitening gel can be purchased from your dentist (but they typically won’t sell it unless you purchased the tray as well); or you can get it from the company who sold you the tray. Some local stores carry these tooth whitening products, such as the gel, the tray and the syringe that is needed, but you have to do your homework, as some gels may not be as effective.

The bleach can definitely cause some irritation to the gum area—so you have to make sure your tray is fitted to your teeth properly and cut around the tooth line area so that the gel cannot extend past to the gums. If you happen to cause some gum damage from bleaching—it is temporary and will go away as long as you stop bleaching.

A good percentage of bleach to purchase would be 16%; any lower than this can take quite a long time to bleach and any higher can be too strong and cause you to have tooth sensitivity.

Sometimes people like to compare tooth whitening products by bleaching one arch at a time and analyze the results of each.

Tooth Whitening Tray – After purchasing your gel and tray, you should be able to place a bead size of gel in each tooth area on the tray. You can apply this with a syringe. Once you do this, you can take the bottom of the syringe to spread the gel in each area of the tray. You don’t have to worry about covering every space because when the tray is fitted, the gel will spread to each crevice on the tooth anyway. You may have to learn by a few mistakes on how much is too much in regards to the gel. You will know you put too much gel in the tray when the gel oozes out the edges when fitted in your mouth.

Should You Go for the Professional Option?

Of course with all of these options, the home method of applying the gel to your teeth will not be as strong as the method used at a dentist; however, if you follow the directions correctly—you can get good use out this product without the expensive cost. Think about it—after spending all of that money on a professional to whiten your teeth—you still have a chance of discoloration through your eating habits, in which the dentist recommends you to do home touch ups anyway. Just something to think about.