Teeth whitening trays are used in teeth whitening kits to let the whitening gel come in contact with your teeth.
These trays are used in at home kit as well as at dental offices.
The main difference is that your dentist will create a special tray just for you that is molded specifically to your teeth.
The tray will then need to be worn for a recommended period of time.
This will need to be repeated at least once a day for several weeks.
Many times the kit will recommend using the tray overnight when sleeping.
The worse your stains the longer you may need to use the tray.
The main concern with teeth whitening trays is the fit.
If the fit of the tray is not good then it will not be comfortable and more of the whitening gel may come in contact with your gums and other soft tissue and cause irritation.
The peroxide in the whitening gel cannot hurt you as it is fairly dilute, at about 10% but it can cause irritation.
Using a general one size fits all tray may also result in varied bleaching, so your smile will not uniformly be white.
Many individuals find that the area close to their gums may not be as white as the rest of their mouth.
How effective the bleaching is will also depend on the cause of your stains.
Most fit is most important as all dentists' state that the tray should not touch and gingival tissue.
The main difference between the dental trays and the over the counter trays are that the over the counter trays should be trimmed to 0.
5 millimeter below the gum line and any excess bleach should be removed so it does not sit on the gums.
Over the counter boil and bite trays are recommended if you are using an over the counter teeth whitening kit.