Lasik and Teeth Whitening

No reports of problems with home teeth whitening products and Lasik.

Teeth whitening gels for intracoronal bleaching commonly use carbamide peroxide. The active ingredient in carbamide peroxide is hydrogen peroxide. The highest concentration is about 35% and is used for a brief period of time in the dentist's chair. The over-the-counter products for "walking bleach" are more likely to be around 10-22% carbamide peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is a skin and eye irritant, however in gel form and if used properly there does not seem to be anything about the product that would be especially problematic after conventional or wavefront custom  Lasik, Bladeless Lasik, PRK, LASEK, or Epi-Lasik.

The bleaching process works with a balance of time and concentration of active ingredient. The longer the product is on your teeth and the higher the concentration, the more whitening that will occur.

The overnight trays with the lower percentage carbamide peroxide are popular because of convenience, but for the first application you may want to try the product while you are awake and aware. If there is an irritation, you can remove the product as instructed in the product's manual.

There is a six-to-eight percent chance of cervical resorption (bleaching inside the tooth), increasing to 18 to 25 percent when the technique is used in conjunction with heat. Heating the product has been almost universally abandoned. Internal resorption usually presents as gum sensitivity around the affect tooth and occurs at six months after internal bleaching. After two years the tooth is usually not restorable.

Looking For Best Lasik Surgeon?

If you are ready to choose a doctor to be evaluated for conventional or custom wavefront Lasik, Bladeless Lasik, PRK, or any refractive surgery procedure, we recommend you consider a doctor who has been evaluated and certified by the USAEyes nonprofit organization. Locate a USAEyes Evaluated & Certified Lasik Doctor.

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Recent Teeth Bleaching Medical Journal Articles...

Related Articles

Enamel Surface Changes After Exposure to Bleaching Gels Containing Carbamide Peroxide or Hydrogen Peroxide.

Oper Dent. 2015 Oct 8;

Authors: Cvikl B, Lussi A, Moritz A, Flury S

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the differences in enamel color change, surface hardness, elastic modulus, and surface roughness between treatments with four bleaching gels containing carbamide peroxide (two at 10% and one each at 35%, and 45%) and two bleaching gels containing hydrogen peroxide (two at 40%).
METHODS: Enamel specimens were bleached and color changes were measured. Color change was calculated using either ΔE or the Bleaching Index (BI). Then, surface hardness, elastic modulus, and surface roughness of the enamel specimens were evaluated. All measurements were performed at baseline and directly after the first bleaching treatment for all carbamide peroxide- and hydrogen peroxide-containing bleaching gels. In addition, final measurements were made 24 hours after each of a total of 10 bleaching treatments for carbamide peroxide bleaching gels, and 1 week after each of a total of three bleaching treatments for hydrogen peroxide bleaching gels.
RESULTS: After the last bleaching treatment, respective ΔE scores were 17.6 and 8.2 for the two 10% carbamide peroxide gels, 12.9 and 5.6 for the 45% and 35% carbamide peroxide gels, and 9.6 and 13.9 for the two 40% hydrogen peroxide gels. The respective BI scores were -2.0 and -2.0 for the two 10% carbamide peroxide gels, -3.5 and -1.5 for the 45% and 35% carbamide peroxide gels, and -2.0 and -3.0 for the two 40% hydrogen peroxide gels. Each bleaching gel treatment resulted in significant whitening; however, no significant difference was found among the gels after the last bleaching. Whitening occurred within the first bleaching treatments and did not increase significantly during the remaining treatments. Surface hardness significantly decreased after the last bleaching treatment, when 10% carbamide peroxide was used. Furthermore, significant changes in the elastic modulus or surface roughness occurred only after treatment with 10% carbamide peroxide.
CONCLUSION: All six bleaching gels effectively bleached the enamel specimens independent of their concentration of peroxide. Gels with low peroxide concentration and longer contact time negatively affected the enamel surface.

PMID: 26449590 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]