Smiling in tanning bed = Whiter teeth?

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shamrock2006

shamrock2006

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I was talkin to a friend of mine last night. She told me that at many tanning salons she's been to, they give you these things to put in your mouth that expose your teeth while tanning because the UV light helps to whiten your teeth? I have never heard anything like this. I'm wondering if this is just a ploy invented by our Fake 'n Bake happy society. Is there any validity to this or is she just getting ripped off?
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I can only imagine it would harm the gums or something but who knows.....
 
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yes, some whitening systems use uv light, but i'm sure its much different. When I have assisted in whitening procedures we would have to completely cover they patient's gums and lips, and put tons of sunscreen on their nose and cheeks. In the office, the UV light is much stronger I'm sure. Plus, the patients would sit under this light for 40-60 minutes. I had it done once, it was kind of painful.
 
see all this makes sense...i've only seen it where you have to put certain solutions, like peroxide solutions, or whatever on the teeth..then use a relatively strong UV light to activate it. But that whole thing kind of threw me for a loop...weird.
 
they mask your gums because the material they paint on your teeth is acidic and can actually burn your gingiva.....and as far as the light is concerned....there have been a lot of studies stating the light really doesn't do much...it's the actually the bleaching agent that does most of the work....the light is mostly an added effect for patients
 
The light is not the whitening agent. It catalyzes the degradation of peroxide radicals from three main sources in whitening gel. The first is plain old hydrogen peroxide, the second is carbamide peroxide and rarely you will see sodium perborate as a bleaching agent.
Basically the light helps form the peroxide and oxygen radicals that oxidize the chromophores in the organix matrix of the dentin. UV light will probably not homolytically cleave the organic molecules within the dentin due to the fact that it most likely will not make it that far. If it does, the whitening action will not be very evenly distributed. You are better off using at least a whitening paste that can whiten by microabrasion.
 
Ive heard using the light is more of a selling point than actually making a difference. If Im not wrong there should be an article about it somewhere where they tested the whitening capabilities of certain agents with and without the light.
 
I think the only whitening that would happen would be from your teeth drying out. They will look whiter for a couple of hours.

Of course this is all conjecture and hearsay. We are on SDN:D
 
Using a bleaching with light will get you a white smile faster. A similar concentration w/o light will only take longer but the same results can be reached.

The light isn't the bleaching agent.
 
92CamaroLS1 said:
Ive heard using the light is more of a selling point than actually making a difference. If Im not wrong there should be an article about it somewhere where they tested the whitening capabilities of certain agents with and without the light.
Click to expand...

Here are some related articles:

Sulieman, M., Reese, J.S., & Addy, M. (2006) Surface and puplal chamber temperature rises during tooth bleaching using a diode laser: a study in vitro. British Dental Journal, 200, 631-634.

Luk, K., Tam, L., & Hubert, M. (2004). Effect of light energy on peroxide tooth bleaching. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 135, 194-201.

Matis, B.A., Gaiao, U., Blackman, D., Schultz, F.A., & Eckert, M.A.S. (1999). In vivo degradation of bleaching gel used in whitening teeth. Journal of the American Dental Association, 130, 227-235.

Sulieman, M., Macdonald, E., Rees, J.S., Newcombe, R.G. & Addy, M. (2006). Tooth bleaching by different concentrations of carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide whitening strips: an in vitro study. Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry, 18, 93-101.

Naik, S., Tredwin, C.J., & Scully, C. (2006). Hydrogen peroxide tooth-whitening (bleaching): review of safety in relation to possible carcinogenesis. Oral Oncology, 42, 668-374.

Kihn, P.W., Barnes, D.M., & Romberg, E. (2000). A clinical evaluation of 10 percent vs. 15 percent carbamide peroxide tooth whitening agents. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 131, 1478-1484.
 
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This must be true. If tanning beds bleach your hair and tan your skin then this must be true. It's common sense. I'm going this afternoon.
 
about half way through reading this thread...I suddenly asked myself, "Why am I still reading this thread?"
 
The answer is no. Peroxide whitens teeth not UV light.
 
Agreed, the light does nothing. What the light does do, as another poster mentioned, is dessicate your teeth. They will be whiter until they are hydrated again, which wouldn't take long.
 
ItsGavinC said:
Agreed, the light does nothing. What the light does do, as another poster mentioned, is dessicate your teeth. They will be whiter until they are hydrated again, which wouldn't take long.
Click to expand...

told you guys. neener...friggin noobs:D :thumbup:
 
wouldnt your teeth look whiter by virtue of the fact your face just got darker? maybe thats what they're banking on
 
I've heard than concentrated UV radiation on your teeth weakens/disrupts the collagen interactions in the dentin, thus weakening the tooth structure. Makes sense I guess...
 
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