I have TMJ Disorder and my wearing my trays for 2 hours a day is aggravating my jaw. I read about the Tanda Pearl system that you only have to wear for 5 minutes twice a day and still get professional results. I feel like that will be better for my jaw issues. Do you know if this system works? Will it help my TMJ pain?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

There are a few things to consider here. As to your first question, will it work? The basic ingredient is a peroxide gel, so it will work. It is significantly weaker than the teeth whitening you are getting with your dentist. Tanda Pearl is a 6% concentration. What you’re getting will likely be around 22% or greater. Bottom line, it will whiten your teeth, just slower.

As to your second question about your TMJ pain, I think this will make it worse. If you look at the tray your dentist provided for you, they should look a bit like the image above. If not, you need to ask him to make you the traditional trays. These are custom fit to your bite and have one for each arch.

With Tanda Pearl, it is a singular tray for both your upper and lower arch. You have to bite down on it to keep it in your mouth. Instead of helping with your TMJ pain, I believe it will increase it.

The best thing to do would be to wear your current whitening trays for a shorter period of time. There is nothing magic about the two hours. Generally, a dentist will say to wear them a minimum of 15 minutes a day. This is the amount of time it generally takes to seep into your teeth.

The longer you can wear them, the faster your teeth will whiten. However, they will whiten if you wear them less. You’ll just have to wear them for more days.

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