When Do White Gums Return to Normal Color After Teeth Whitening?

Question

When gums become white and sore after the teeth whitening procedure, how long will it take to heal or return to pink again?

Scott Young, DDS · Answer

It is common for gum tissue to get irritated following a bleaching procedure. The tissue of the affected area will typically turn white before changing to a red appearance the next day. The tissue is usually back to normal with 48-72 hours. There are two ways to keep this tissue irritation to a minimum. First, make sure that your bleaching trays are custom made at a dental office to ensure a tight fit. Also, be sure after inserting the trays you take your finger and wipe any excess bleach that may initially come out of the tray when it is being seated. These two things should keep gingival irritation to a minimum while bleaching.

Ravi Goyal, BDS · Answer

It's a minor complication of the bleaching agent that is used in whitening. They usually become absolutely normal in 3 to 5 days. In case patient has discomfort or burning because of it application of vitamin E capsules can help.

Ted Baghdasarian, DDS · Answer

This is a very common minor complication of in office teeth whitening. If this happens to you, do not worry, your gingiva will go back to their original color in just a few days. Sometimes a small amount of whitening agent can leak past the gum barrier that is placed on your teeth during whitening. When this occurs, the gingival tissue can become blanched and look completely white in the spot where some whitening agent came in contact with your gums. This whitening is completely temporary and will return back to normal usually within 1 week. From a doctor's standpoint, you should have follow up scheduled so your treating doctor can check in on you and make sure your gingiva are back to normal.
As a side note, if during your procedure you feel a lot of stinging or pain, it's important you bring this to your doctor's or the staff's attention, it may be necessary to discontinue the whitening procedure if it simply is too uncomfortable. Some patients have hypo mineralization and their teeth simply are not dense enough to withstand whitening, as such, they experience discomfort during whitening. These patients should not be doing whitening on their teeth, good luck!

Michael Ayzin, DDS · Answer

Thank you for asking a great question. Normal color after teeth whitening usually returns within a day or so. If you doing whitening at home , a custom tray should be trimmed at the gum level and tray should adhere tight to prevent whitening material actually touching gums. That in turn should prevent irritation (whitening) of the gums.

Thomas Dey, BDS, MSc · Answer

If your gums are regularly turning white it usually means your custom trays are not fitting very well. You need to speak to your dentist about getting them checked and possibly having a new set made before using them further for whitening. Kind regardsThomas Dey, BDS, MSc

Natwarlal Tibrewal, BDS · Answer

The perfectly designed and fitted trays and dentist prescribed gels used in right amount will not normally give you any gum irritation. If it does occur, don't worry as it will become normal within next 24 hours and if it does not , see the dentist ASAP.

Norman Huefner, DDS · Answer

The most likely reasons your gums became white are that bleach spilled out of the tray onto the gums.  This is caused most frequently when the dentist did not trim back the tray enough.  So first thing is I would recommend returning to your dentist and have him/her make sure your bleaching trays have been trimmed properly.

	The second reason is just using too much bleaching gel and then not wiping off the overflow off of your gums.

	Regarding how long will it take for your gums to return to normal?  Could be anywhere between a few hours to few days.  Teeth bleaching gel is only slightly irritating to the gum tissue, so I would expect normalcy to return soon and than there would be no residual damage.

Ashkan Haeri, DMD · Answer

White gums is usually caused by chemicals in the whitening gel. Recovery depends on the duration of gel contact. Typically, it can take form couple of minutes to couple of hours. If irritation consists please consult with your dentist.

Paul D. Kantor, DDS · Answer

When whitening gel comes in contact with the gum tissue, pain and change in gum color can happen. Usually this heals within a few hours to one or two days. This is not unusual and not a problem as long as it is only occasional and not going on continuously.

Wendy S. Spektor, DDS · Answer

Whitening has been used safely for over 30 years.  We continue to get better results with our newer options however there are still side effects.

1-   Depending on what system you choose, (in office vs. take home), what products you use, Kor, Opalescense, Tres White, even Crest Whitening Strips, etc., and how long you whiten, there are side effects.
2-   You can be sensitive to temperature, (use a sensitive tooth paste with potassium nitrate in the trays before and after whitening if this happens), you can get white gums from the whitening touching the gums (rinse with warm water after taking off the whitening and the gum will return to normal) 
3-    You  can also get uneven whitening.  That can happen when you have bonding, white spots, etc. 
      Your dentist will guide you through all of these.  

    Lifting the color of your teeth has so many advantages that even though there side effects, the result is normally worth it and gives everyone a lift!

When Do White Gums Return to Normal Color After Teeth Whitening?

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