ALLWHITE3000

The History of Teeth Whitening

As far back as the middle ages, people have been willing to go to great lengths for a bright white smile. In those days, the neighbourhood barber-surgeon (the guy you went to for anything from a haircut to minor surgery) would file down your not so pearly white teeth and soak them in a concentrated solution of nitric acid. Patients did get the white results they were looking for, but the concentrated acid destroyed their tooth enamel. Causing massive tooth decay later on in life!

In the United States, cosmetic dentistry is a business that currently generates over 15 billion dollars in revenue each year and continues to grow at a rate of more than 10%. In this exciting market segment, tooth bleaching is the fastest growing sector, and is fastly gaining popularity around the world. In fact, tooth whitening is the safest and most popular cosmetic procedure currently available in the world.

The first recorded use of hydrogen peroxide for the purpose of tooth whitening was 1884 at the time was referred to as hydrogen dioxide. By the early 1990’s it was firmly established that hydrogen peroxide held the best chance of success. As a result, dentists began to focus their attention on hydrogen peroxide as the whitening agent of choice. In 1918, it was discovered that the use of a high intensity light accelerated the chemical reaction in hydrogen peroxide and enhanced the bleaching process.

Through empirical data and trial and error, contemporary whitening has evolved so that years of staining can be wiped away in just 36 minutes, and whitening gels specially formulated to leave a healthy glossy look to your teeth.

Beyond’s contribution to the development of tooth whitening was in specially filtering the light to remove the heat and harmful ultraviolet radiation and infra-red light, and only allow the most effective wavelengths of light to enter the patient’s mouth.

This has led to new levels of speed, convenience and effectiveness in the field of laser tooth whitening.