Dental bleaching is a common and effective way of brightening discolored teeth, but just like other treatments, it does have its side effects. For example, bleaching your teeth can leave them more sensitive to different stimuli such as heat or cold. Here are some of the coping measures you can use if dental bleaching leaves your teeth hypersensitive:

Pause the Treatment

The first tip is to take a break from the treatments and give your mouth time to recover. The sensitivity will go away after one or two days, but it will flare up if you continue bleaching your teeth as before. Therefore, you need to change your bleaching technique, with some of the tips that are discussed below.

Reduce the Bleaching Concentration

Dental bleaching products contain different forms of peroxide, such as carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide, as their main bleaching ingredients. The concentration of the peroxide determines how fast a bleaching product works. Unfortunately, it is the same peroxide that gives you dental sensitivity. Therefore, use a product of a lower concentration than the one that sensitized your teeth to avoid future hypersensitivity.

Embrace Shorter Bleaching Sessions

Instead of reducing the peroxide concentration, you can also shorten your bleaching sessions. For example, if a product should be used for 30 minutes per session, you can shorten the sessions to 25 minutes or less.

Reduce the Frequency of the Treatments

Another novel alternative is to reduce the frequency of the treatments. This will reduce the exposure of your teeth to peroxide within a given period, thereby reducing your teeth sensitivity. For example, if you have been bleaching your teeth daily, you can switch to bleaching them every other day.

Use Desensitizing Toothpaste 

Apart from tinkering with your whitening treatments, you may also have some relief by using toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth. The Desensitizing toothpaste works because it contains certain ingredients, such as potassium nitrate, that interfere with the transmission of the pain signals from the enamel to the tooth nerve.

Use Anti-Inflammatory Medicine

Lastly, you may also have some luck with anti-inflammatory medication. Such medication may help you because one of the ways in which peroxide caused discomfort and heightened sensitivity is by inflaming your soft dental tissues. Anti-inflammatory medication may work by reducing the swelling.

The risk of side effects is one of the reasons you should only bleach your teeth after consulting a dentist. The dentist can also help you bleach in their officer under controlled conditions to minimize the risk of a side effect. To learn more, contact a company like Dansville Family Dental Care. 

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