Teeth whitening strips are thin, flexible pieces of plastic (polyethylene) that have been coated on one side with a thin film of hydrogen peroxide bleaching agent. As opposed to other at-home teeth whitening systems where a whitener is placed into a tray, in this case the strip itself is the delivery system for the whitener and the precise dosing of the bleaching agent is administered by the manufacturer. When they are used, whitening strips are positioned across the user's teeth and then gently pressed into place so to create maximum contact between the whitener and each tooth being treated. Whitening strips kits contain two different shaped strips.
Half of the kit's strips are designed to fit across the user's upper teeth and the other half are shaped so to fit across their lower teeth. Teeth whitening strips are typically intended to be worn for 30 minutes a day, twice a day. The actual number of strips contained in each whitening kit varies depending on the concentration of the whitener that the manufacturer has applied to them.
Whitening strips that have been coated with a 6% hydrogen peroxide whitener are intended to be worn over a course of 14 days (56 strips total, 28 uppers and 28 lowers). Strips coated with 10% whitener are intended for a treatment period of 7 days (28 strips total, 14 uppers and 14 lowers). Of course if a person has achieved the whitening results they desired before using the entire contents of the whitening strips kit they can terminate treatments at any time. Teeth whitening strips have been designed so to provide an alternative to tray-based at-home teeth whitening systems. With tray-based bleaching products a whitening gel is placed into a rigid plastic bleaching tray that is then in turn slipped over the user's teeth and worn for some hours per day or else overnight. Some people find that teeth whitening systems that utilize bleaching trays are inconvenient or incompatible with their needs. Bleaching trays can be bulky and therefore make speech difficult. They can also aggravate a jaw joint problem, trigger the user's gag reflex or promote excessive salivation. And even though transparent, bleaching trays can be noticeable to others when they are worn.
The advantage of whitening strips is that no tray is needed. The strip itself is the delivery system for the whitener and it is very thin in comparison to a bleaching tray. Because of this difference a person may find that a strip-based product interferes with life's activities less so than a tray-based one. In addition, some people may find that whitening strips are less visible than bleaching trays, thus providing fewer restrictions on those opportunities when they feel comfortable performing their bleaching treatments.
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