I have TMJ Disorder and wearing the teeth whitening trays aggravate the pain in my jaw. I recently saw an advertisement for the Tanda Pearl Whitening System that whitens your teeth in only five minutes a day. Will this actually work? Is it safe? I like the 5 minute idea because I feel like that will be less pressure on my jaw.

Carolyn

Dear Carolyn,

I looked into this carefully because I didn’t want to do anything that could make your situation worse. I do want to make sure you are under the care of a dentist with TMJ experience. This is important because leaving TMJ untreated can lead to a lifetime of pain and migraines.

Now, about this Tanda Pearl System. Its whitening ingredient is the same principle dentists use with their teeth whitening gel to penetrate your teeth using trays. There are some differences though. Let’s start with the light they promote. I am a tad suspicious about this. They provide no information on the technology or how it works. I believe this is because it isn’t really anything that works and they do not want to risk professional scrutiny. Honestly, if it worked, they would make more money by making it professional strength and marketing it to dental offices. They don’t do that, which increases my suspicion.

Tanda Tray Versus Professional Bleaching Trays

The biggest difference is the tray they use. If you look at the image above, this should be the type of bleaching trays your dentist provided you with. They are custom-fitted to your particular bite. I am a little worried that your dentist skipped fitting them to your bite because you should not be experiencing pain. Let’s ignore that for now and talk about the tray that Tanda Pearl provides.

They give you a single tray that you have to bite down on while you whiten. There are a few problems with this.

• It is a DIY tray, which means it will not fit snuggly to your teeth. This weakens the strength of the gel by both letting gel leak out and allowing saliva to get in and dilute the gel.
• Because the gel can leak out, it could lead to problems with your gums.
• The single tray means you can’t just put it on and go about your business. Instead, you will have to bite down on it in order to keep it in place. This will aggravate your jaw way more than what you are currently doing.

Here is my suggestion. There is nothing magic about this system. I actually don’t think it would work as efficiently as what you currently have. You did not mention how long you are currently wearing your trays, but said the 5 minute time appealed to you. Generally, it takes longer than that for the gel to really seep into your teeth, but if you need to wear it for a shorter time period, you can do that with what you currently have. It just means you’ll have to whiten over a longer period of time to get the same results. I would also speak to your dentist about your trays and see if he can fit them a little better for you. I don’t know any dentist who would want their patient to be in pain.

Another thing to consider would be to use Kor Whitening. This uses a special delivery system that intensifies the effectiveness of the whitening gel. This may allow you to do it in less time.

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