If you have gum disease, chances are you've had some discomfort and potentially bleeding problems. Treating your gum disease should be high on your list of things to do, but you might have other things in mind to do first, like having your teeth whitened. If you've been thinking about whitening your teeth at home while you have gum disease, you really shouldn't.

Tissue Damage

With gum disease, tissue damage has already occurred. This is due to a combination of two factors.

The first is that gum disease is an infection. Bacteria are responsible for gum disease and when it develops, your gums become infected. That bacteria damages and destroys healthy tissue, which is part of the reason why your gums likely look inflamed.

The second reason is the inflammation itself. Long-term inflammation is bad for the body and can damage healthy cells. So the infection is a double-edged sword and leaves your gums in a condition where they're more likely to be hurt by external factors, like teeth bleaching.

Peroxide

One of the leading ingredients utilized in at-home bleaching kits is peroxide. This is because peroxide reacts to stains and build-up on contact and starts bubbling away, destroying it. However, that's not all that peroxide destroys.

While it's one of the first things that people reach for to treat an open wound, peroxide is actually dangerous to healthy tissues. It's even been shown to slow healing, which is the last thing you need when your body is trying to fight off gum disease. 

Alternative

The good news is, you don't have to rely upon peroxide or at-home bleaching kits at all. By going to a professional, you can get the look that you want without putting your gums at risk.

Professional teeth whitening gives you extreme results fast — much faster than you could accomplish at home with a kit. It also ensures that a dentist is the one applying it to your teeth. They take special care to avoid the gums and often use a protective gel to help shield the gums from any excess whitening solution that might touch them. In this way, you can be assured that your gums won't be harmed while your teeth are getting the look that you want.

While you should take care of your gums as soon as possible, if you need white teeth now, going to a cosmetic dentist is the best way to do it. Get the look that you want and don't put your gums in harm's way by choosing an at-home kit.

For more information about dentists who offer teeth whitening, visit a site like http://www.lindendentalnaples.com.

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