Can You Whiten Your Teeth While You Have Braces On?

The little brackets in braces are attached to your teeth with extra-strong glue. You should not risk the dark spots and yellow spots that can occur with this glue. The glue is waterproof. This means that the gel won’t reach under the bracket attachment.

You’ll have a whiter tooth around the bracket. But once you remove the braces, the original coloring of the tooth will show in that one spot. Think of it like a reverse stencil.

If you’ve got invisible aligners or braces, it’s recommended that you not whiten until you remove your braces. This is partially because of the reaction of the whitening gel with the actual brace. It can break down when exposed to this chemical.

People are also prone to overdoing the whitener when they have invisible aligners. It can weaken the enamel. This is another reason we recommend waiting until you remove your braces.

Whether you’ve got invisible aligners or traditional braces, think about tooth overlap. Whitening your teeth with the braces on will cause uneven whitening. This is due to the parts of the teeth that overlap.

Where the teeth touch, the whitening gel won’t reach.

It may seem like a good idea to whiten before getting braces at first. But again, there is tooth overlap to consider. It wouldn’t be a good idea to unevenly whiten your teeth.

However, there is another reason to wait until you remove your braces to whiten teeth. You should know that whitener can cause tooth pain after treatment. You may have sensitivity when brushing or eating certain foods. This will depend on what kind of whitener you use.

These effects can last a while after whitening. Make sure that you don’t cause yourself extra pain by making your teeth sensitive before getting braces.

Braces can already hurt by themselves. It’s never a good idea to add sensitivity from whitening to the mix.