There might be people who start whitening their teeth and expect immediate, powerful results. Perhaps your own expectations were more modest. All you were hoping for from your at-home whitening kit was a smile that was a few shades whiter. While some of your teeth may have whitened, others may not have seemed to change colour in any noticeable way. What can be causing these conspicuously uneven results?
Possible Reasons for Your Colour Mismatch
There are a fair few reasons why your at-home teeth whitening efforts have led to uneven results.
- There are different types of tooth discolouration, with different underlying causes. Some of these stains respond to whitening treatments more than others.
- The one-size-fits-all style of applicator tray in the kit may not properly fit your dental arch. This leads to uneven distribution of the whitening gel.
- You may have been using whitening strips that adhere to the teeth, but since they don't always fully encompass a tooth, the subsequent results can be a tooth that isn't comprehensively whitened across its entire surface.
- It's possible that you overlooked any dental restorations in your mouth, such as dental bonding, veneers, crowns, or even a filling. Your dental enamel will lighten, but these restorations will not.
- Your dental enamel may be deficient—either too thin or entirely absent in some places. Missing enamel exposes the dentin underneath, which doesn't respond to whitening treatment in the same way.
But how do you go about evening up your smile?
Wait and See
How far along are you in your treatment? It might be that the results will become more consistent as you progress, so the issue will essentially resolve itself. This is a best-case scenario, but depending on the cause of your uneven results, it may be unwise to continue. For example, you shouldn't be whitening teeth with deficient dental enamel as this can lead to severe irritation while also damaging the tooth. It's better to consult a professional first.
How a Dentist Can Even Up Your Smile
Your dentist can determine why some of your teeth are whitening and why others are not. Deficient or otherwise damaged enamel will need attention—either by remineralising your teeth with a fluoride treatment or by covering it up with dental bonding. Your dentist can also whiten individual teeth to create a uniform colour. You should also ask them to make an applicator tray just for you if you plan to continue your whitening efforts at home.
Sure, it's not exactly convenient to have a smile with teeth of differing shades of white. But it's quite important to determine why this is, and you will need your dentist's help to do this and to correct the problem. Keep these tips in mind when looking for a teeth whitening service near you.
