Do Whitening Gels Make Your Teeth Sensitive?

Category: sensitive teeth, tooth sensitivity




A very popular question among those who are unfamiliar and new to using teeth whitening gels to brighten their smile is whether or not your teeth will become extra sensitive shortly after applying the gel.  This is a very important question to ask because dealing with pain in your teeth due to unfortunate sensitivity is a very negative experience that nobody should have to tolerate.  Whitening your teeth is considered to be a cosmetic experience used solely to improve your physical appearance.  It would be completely useless if on the way to receiving whiter teeth, you wound up with overly sensitive teeth which affected necessary and routine tasks like eating and drinking your favorite foods.  Fortunately, it is a very uncommon side effect to have such sensitive teeth that you can no longer eat your preferred foods.

While it is unlikely to have to completely stop eating certain foods due to pain and sensitivity, it is not out of the ballpark that you will have more sensitive teeth after a whitening experience.  This is a very common side effect and in most cases your teeth will be extra sensitive to certain degrees of hot and cold.  However, in general this extra sensitivity will only continue throughout one or two days after you apply a gel applicants to your teeth.  It is rare for the pain to be unbearable or severe and it’s usually only a minor annoyance, and as stated earlier, it will go away after a day or two.

It is important to note that every method of whitening your teeth with gels will cause a certain extent of tooth sensitivity and you will be wasting your time if you go on a quest to find the perfect gel which does not.  While sensitivity perks up when you attempt to eat certain foods which are very hot are very cold, sometimes your teeth can be bothered by air itself.  If this occurs, do not be alarmed as this is incredibly standard and most users of teeth whitening gel will experience this affliction to some extent.

If you are overly concerned about experiencing tooth sensitivity and you will be happy to know that certain brands of whitening gel claim to contain an additional chemical agent which is said to relieve any sensitivity in subsequent stress caused by this feeling.  Although this sounds like a must have to avoid any sensitivity issues, some users state that they did not notice a difference in the levels of sensitivity between a normal whitening gel and a gel which contained the special stress relieving chemicals.

If you are considering whitening your teeth with special gels, but are becoming more and more concerned with the issue of sensitivity in the teeth, you needn’t be alarmed.  As stated above, the minor pain will go away within 1 to 2 days after you stop using the gel.  If you are also concerned about your whitening results being negatively affected by taking a day or two off to relieve the pain, you shouldn’t as this is also not an issue.  Your whining results will not be affected by a break in whitening consistency, they will just take longer to achieve.

In conclusion, slight sensitivity in the teeth due to applying whitening gels is something to be expected no matter what brand or type you are using.  Whether you are using over the counter white strips or are going to a dentist to undergo whitening your teeth with a laser, tooth sensitivity will likely occur.  It is important to understand this and to realize that it is a necessary annoyance to endure in order to receive your desired results of a brighter smile.