A routine dental polish and bleaching both brighten your smile, but they serve entirely different purposes. Polishing is a routine dental hygiene step used to buff away plaque and external surface stains. Conversely, professional bleaching is a cosmetic procedure that uses peroxide-based agents to penetrate the enamel and alter your tooth’s natural shade. There are many, many facts that differentiate these two procedures. In this blog, let’s break down the facts that differentiate these two. 

Purpose and scope

The most critical difference between these two is their scope of action.

• Professional bleaching: This procedure is also known as teeth whitening. This cosmetic procedure is designed to lighten your natural tooth color. It targets intrinsic discoloration caused by genetics, aging, medications or long-term habits.  
• Routine polishing: This is a preventive health maintenance step performed during routine dental checkups. Its purpose is to clean the surface of the teeth, smoothing out roughness and eliminating the superficial stains from coffee, tea and tobacco. 

The procedure

The mechanisms used to achieve these results differ significantly.

• The bleaching process: Bleaching makes use of peroxide-based bleaching agents, which, when applied to the teeth, the peroxide penetrates the enamel and breaks down stain-causing compounds through oxidation.  Professional in-office treatments involve applying a highly concentrated gel to the teeth, which is sometimes accelerated using a specialized light or heat source. In this, the gum tissues are carefully protected using a resin barrier to prevent irritation. 
• The polishing process: Polishing does not involve chemical bleaching. Instead, a dentist uses a slow-speed rotary tool with a soft rubber cup or a brush at the tip. This tool is coated with toothpaste to buff the tooth surface. The abrasive nature of this paste removes surface debris and leaves the teeth looking refreshed and shiny. 

Impact on tooth color

• Bleaching: This process can whiten your teeth by several shades beyond their original natural color. 
• Polishing: This process only restores the teeth to their natural color without providing any extreme whiteness by clearing away external films and stains. It cannot change the fundamental color of the tooth. 

Conclusion

The primary difference between professional teeth bleaching and routine polishing is their method and objective. A polish is a mechanical hygiene step designed to clean the outer tooth surface by clearing superficial stains, plaque and tartar. It recovers teeth to look fresher and brighter, but they only clear the teeth to achieve their natural shade. Conversely, bleaching is a chemical procedure that deeply dissolves the stains, thus making the teeth a lot whiter, which looks quite unnatural. While the polishing only maintains the oral hygiene and surface cleanliness, bleaching deeply penetrates the tooth to provide a whiter and brighter smile. Getting suggestions from a professional dentist is essential to discuss your needs for your dental procedures. Ludhiana Dental Centre, along with its years of expertise, is proficient at performing both procedures most effectively, which is done by our expert Dr. Bikramjit Singh Dhillon, along with the help of other expert dentists at our centre. 

FAQs

1. Can a routine polish change the natural color of my teeth?

No. Polishing only removes the external stains caused by tea, coffee or any other pigmented food. It restores the natural teeth color but does not make them whiter than their genetic baseline. 

2. Which procedure do I actually need?

It entirely depends on what your goal is. If you want cleaning, you should go for polishing, and if you want extremely white teeth, you should go for bleaching. 

3. Do these procedures cause tooth sensitivity?

Routine polishing rarely causes any sensitivity; it might cause slight temporary discomfort. At the same time, bleaching might cause slight gum irritation.