When you are deciding whether to participate in the popular teeth whitening trend, it’s smart to consider potential side effects associated with the treatment. Before going in for your whitening treatment, you’ll want to know what to expect.

Common Side Effects of Teeth Whitening

When you visit a cosmetic dentist for the treatment, you can expect to see results as soon as you leave the office. Whitening can remove years’ worth of stains from your teeth and will accomplish what regular dental care cannot.

This is because the whitening agents used by professionals are extremely powerful, and you should expect some common side effects as a result:

• Sensitive Teeth: Because whitening techniques target both the surface stains and deeper ones, your teeth may be sensitive for the rest of the day. This means they will be particularly susceptible to pain under pressure such as chewing or extreme temperatures such as a cold beverage. Before starting your treatment with your dentist, decide on a signal so that if you feel your teeth are becoming too sensitive you can ask them to stop. Otherwise, plan to have only soft, moderately warm foods in your diet for the following day, and take care when you brush that evening to be gentle.
• Irritated Gums: If the powerful whitening agent comes into contact with your gums, it can irritate them. Your dentist will place a dental dam over your gums to keep that contact limited as much as possible, but they may not be able to prevent all contact. If you do feel a burning sensation on your gums during treatment, indicate so to your dentist so they can wipe away the agent and avoid unnecessary irritation. 
• White Stains: This is a much less common side effect, but some people experience what appears to be extra-white stains on their teeth after treatment. This is due to hypocalcification, or the loss of calcium in your enamel, which causes stains. It’s important to understand that whitening does not cause this, but only makes already existing hypocalcification more apparent. If you notice these, you’ll want to talk with your dentist about the best way to ensure you don’t continue to lose calcium in your tooth enamel, as well as some options to make those white stains less obvious.