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10 Facts About Teeth Whitening

Top 10 Facts About Teeth Whitening

Cosmetic dentistry has gained immense popularity in recent years. More and more people are now asking their dentists about how they can enhance their smiles.

A recent study done by RealSelf found that 40% of Americans want to improve their teeth with Invisalign, veneers, or whitening. With that in mind, there are still plenty of myths surrounding the issue of tooth whitening.

In this post, we will separate the facts from the misconceptions and help you gain a better understanding of what teeth whitening is all about.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Facts About Teeth Whitening

1. There are many factors that impact how white your teeth are. Foods and beverages like wine, coffee, and tea can stain your teeth over time. Smoking can stain your teeth as well. Genetics can also play a role in how white your teeth are.

2. If plaque is not removed regularly through flossing and brushing, it can accumulate to form tartar. Tartar (which is also referred to as calculus) can also influence how bright your teeth are.

3. Some individuals may have stained in the inner layers of their teeth. This can be caused by tiny cracks in the teeth that allow stains to penetrate. Antibiotics can also cause deep stains to develop.

4. No matter the cause of your teeth stains, the natural color of a person’s teeth is defined at birth. The only thing a teeth whitening product or procedure can do is to eliminate all the stains that have developed over time.

5. Bleaching is the most widely used teeth whitening method and can whiten your teeth to look brighter and more radiant. The main ingredient in bleaching products is usually carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide. As this substance is broken down, oxygen is absorbed into the tooth’s enamel, and the color of the tooth becomes brighter.

6. The results of teeth whitening can last for up to three years. But, this can vary from one individual to another. If you drink or eat heavily-colored foods or smoke, it’s likely that the whitening will not last as long. This means that you have to take care of your teeth in order to enjoy maximum benefits.

7. In most states, teeth whitening can only be legally done by a professional dentist. With that said, getting your teeth whitened in whitening stores or by beauticians is not permitted under the law. Doing this could expose you to harmful products that may cause permanent damage to your gums and teeth.

8. In the U.S., the teeth whitening products that you can get at your local pharmacy are not allowed to have more than 0.1 % hydrogen peroxide concentration. This concentration is too low to achieve any observable results on the color of your teeth.

9. Tooth whitening can only brighten your existing tooth color and might not be as effective in removing deeply-ingrained stains.

10. You can easily make your teeth brighter by reducing the number of drinks and foods you consume that can stain your teeth. You should also avoid smoking, as this can also contribute to the staining and discoloration of your teeth.

Top 3 Tooth Whitening Tips

1. Don’t buy teeth whitening products from abroad

While the cost of these products may seem like a bargain, it’s not advisable to get your teeth-whitening products from overseas. It is very difficult to know for sure what ingredients have been put in these products, and this may put your health at risk. It is much more difficult to trust online companies, so you cannot be certain that their products are properly tested and of the highest quality. The best way to establish where a teeth whitening product is safe is to consult your dentist.

2. Consult your dentist

When considering teeth whitening, there’s no better place to get accurate and factual information other than your dentist. Not only are they licensed and qualified to perform the treatment, but they will be able to properly address your specific concerns and needs. Dentists are allowed to use bleaching agents that have up to 6% hydrogen peroxide concentration. This is almost 6,000 times stronger than any tooth whitening product you can get at your local pharmacy. Because of this, getting your teeth whitening done by a professional dentist is the smartest decision you can make.

3. Don’t break the law

It is unlawful for anybody other than a licensed dental professional to perform such procedures. Anyone that claims to offer teeth whitening services are essentially committing a crime. By having your teeth whitened by a professional dentist, you can be sure that you are operating within the boundaries of the law and that you are getting a quality service. When teeth whitening procedures go wrong, it can result in permanent and costly damage – it is not worth it to save a few dollars only to put your health at risk.

Expert comments from Dr. Alizadeh

“When done poorly, teeth whitening can result in permanent damage that can be very difficult and expensive to fix.”

“Getting your teeth whitened by unqualified individuals can result in permanent scarring, severe chemical burns and, in some cases, affect your ability to breath and/or eat.”

“It’s crucial that you consult your dentist if you want to have your teeth whitened. It is a common procedure in dentistry and while it may be slightly more expensive, by receiving the treatment from your dentist, you can avoid many negative side effects.”

“Teeth whitening done by anyone other than a qualified hygienist or dentist is unlawful. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way because you may end up regretting a lot.”

For more information about tooth whitening and the regulations and laws that govern it, check out our ‘Teeth Whitening’ page. You can also contact us at (916) 443-5677 if you have any questions or concerns you may have regarding tooth whitening.

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5/17/2024

 

5/17/2025
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J Street Dental Group – Candidate Privacy Notice

J Street Dental Group is committed to respecting your online privacy and recognizes your need for appropriate protection and management of any personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) you share with us.

J Street Dental Group is a “data controller”. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. This privacy notice makes you aware of how and why your personal data will be used, namely for the purposes of the J Street Dental Group employment recruitment process, and how long it will usually be retained.

Data protection principles

We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your data will be:

  • Used lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent way.
  • Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  • Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
  • Accurate and kept up to date.
  • Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
  • Kept securely.

 

The kind of information we hold about you

In connection with your application for work with us, we will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about you:

  • The information you have provided to us in your curriculum vitae and cover letter.
  • The information you have provided on our application form, including name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, employment history, and qualifications.
  • Any information you provide to us during an interview.

 

How is your personal information collected?

We collect personal information about candidates from the following sources:

  • You, the candidate.
  • Recruitment agencies and vendors we have agreed on terms in place with
  • Professional networking profile
  • Employees and others who refer you to us


How we will use information about you?

We will use the personal information we collect about you to:

  • Assess your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role.
  • Carry out background and reference checks, where applicable.
  • Communicate with you about the recruitment process.
  • Keep records related to our hiring processes.
  • Comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
  • We also need to process your personal information to decide whether to enter into a contract of employment with you.

Having received your CV, cover letter, and/or your application form, we will then process that information to decide whether you meet the basic requirements to be screened by our in-house recruitment team for the role. If you do, we will decide whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview, be it by telephone, in person, or by other electronic means. If we decide to engage you for an interview, we will use the information you provide to us at the interview to decide whether to offer you the role. If we decide to offer you the role, we will then take up references before confirming your appointment.

If you fail to provide personal information

If you fail to provide information when requested, which is necessary for us to consider your application (such as evidence of qualifications or work history), we will not be able to process your application successfully and we will not be able to take your application further.

Automated decision-making

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.

Data sharing With third parties

  • We will only share your personal information with the following third parties for the purposes of processing your application; this may involve sharing your information with other companies within our own group if we consider they may have other relevant vacancies and only if you consent to such sharing
  • All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Data security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention (how long will you use my information for)

  • We will retain your personal information for a period of 2 years after we have communicated to you our decision about whether to appoint you to the role. We will retain your personal information so that we can make you aware of any suitable alternative roles that arise during this period.
  • We further retain your personal information for that period so that we can show, in the event of a legal claim, that we have not discriminated against candidates on prohibited grounds and that we have conducted the recruitment exercise in a fair and transparent way. After this period, we will securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
  • If you would prefer that we did not retain your personal information, you can notify us at any time and we will delete your personal information.


Rights of access, correction, erasure, and restriction

Under certain circumstances, by law, you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us to continue to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object to where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example, if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.


Right to withdraw consent

When you applied for this role, you provided consent to us processing your personal information for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. You have the right to withdraw your consent for processing for that purpose at any time.

To withdraw your consent, please contact the Recruitment Manager. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your application, and, subject to our policies, we will dispose of your personal data securely.

Data protection officer

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the DPO by email, at info@jstreetdentalgroup.com.

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