I’ve read that the Tanda Pearl system only has to be worn for 5 minutes a day to whiten your teeth. My dentist is having me wear my trays for three hours a day and it is aggravating my TMJ. Would switching to the Tanda Pearl kit be better for me?
Mia
Dear Mia,
Teeth Bleaching Trays
I’m glad you wrote. If your dentist is using professional strength teeth whitening, there is nothing magic about you wearing the trays for three hours. Because that is aggravating your TMJ Disorder, I would reduce the time you wear them. Really, you want a minimum of fifteen minutes for it to penetrate the enamel efficiently. The only thing wearing it longer than that does is whiten your teeth faster. Don’t torture yourself.
I would not recommend switching to Tanda Pearl, especially because you have TMJ Disorder. Their kit uses a single bite tray. You have to keep it in by clenching your teeth. Even for just five minutes, that will end up causing you significant problems. Though, I have serious doubts that their “ionic” technology makes their whitening work faster. They would make more money selling that technology to dentists than over-the-counter and they provide no documentation to back up their claims.
The other thing to be aware of with over-the-counter kits is that their trays will not be custom fitted to your bite the way professional teeth whitening will. That means that your saliva will leak into the trays, which weakens the whitening potency. Second, it also allows some of your whitening gel to leak out, which weakens its potency even further, as well as putting your gums at risk for sensitivity from the gel getting onto them. The reduced whitening also means you will have to purchase a LOT of kits to get the same level of whitening that you will with your dentist.
My advice is to stick with the professional kit you have already paid for but reduce the amount of time that you wear the trays to a time that does not aggravate your TMJ.
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