I just saw an advertisement for an at home teeth whitening system that is supposed to work in just 5 minutes using a special ionic light. My teeth whitening trays ache my jaw so I was thinking just doing it for five minutes would be much better. Do you know anything about this system?

Pam

Dear Pam,

Looking at this, it has the same basic technology as other home whitening kits. However, there are some differences.

First, the ionic technology they talk about. seems bogus to me. They don’t list what makes it work, nor has their been any peer review of this which tells me they do not want to be subject to scrutiny. It won’t hurt you, but it doesn’t look like it does anything either. My suspicion is it is a sales gimmick.

Second, the teeth whitening tray. Notice I said tray — singular– here. If you look at the image above, you can see that tradtional teeth whitening trays have two, a tray for each arch. With the Tanda Pearl System, you would get a single tray that you have to bite down on in order to keep it in your mouth.

If you think your mouth aches now, imagine having to bite down the entire time you are trying to whiten your teeth.

I am curious as to why your jaw is aching. Is it possible that you don’t have custom-fitted trays but rather just generic one-size-fits-all type? If so, I would talk to your dentist and ask him to make you some to fit your bite.

If you do have custom trays, then maybe you can just cut back on the amount of time you are wearing them. It’s up to you how long you wear them. If you choose to wear them less time each day, then you just have to wear them for a few more days.

Another option is to do in-office teeth whitening, such as with Zoom Whitening. This would allow you to whiten your teeth in just one appointment. One day and you are done.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.