Whitening strips are ultra-popular at-home whitening solutions that lift stains and lighten your teeth for a truly spectacular smile. However, the duration of the daily treatment may leave you wondering whether you can drink water with them on. It’s thirsty work, after all!
While the answer (which we’ll discuss soon) may not be what you were hoping for, understanding when to drink water with whitening strips will help you maximise your results. So, let’s jump right into the details.
Can You Drink Water with Teeth Whitening Strips On?
In short, no, you should not drink water while wearing whitening strips on. But why?
Firstly, drinking water with whitening strips on can dilute the whitening agent, decreasing its effectiveness and leaving you with unmet expectations. Whitening strips contain hydrogen peroxide (the active lightening ingredient), which needs enough time to interact with your tooth enamel to properly break down stains. Adding water too soon in the process can interrupt the incredibly necessary chemical reaction.
Interrupting this interaction isn’t the only way water can reduce effectiveness, though.
Drinking during the treatment can cause the strips to slip out of alignment or minimize the contact with your teeth. As you may know, proper contact with your teeth is essential for ensuring good results, so anything that disrupts this will reduce your smile’s brightness.
Thirdly (and finally), drinking water with whitening strips on can increase your risk of swallowing the strips’ gel residue. While swallowing some of the peroxide gel won’t cause you any damage (it will simply pass through your system), swallowing a large amount could cause nausea and stomach irritation.
What If You’re Really Thirsty?
Even if you are really thirsty, you still shouldn’t drink water with whitening strips on, due to all the reasons we discussed above. However, we understand that thirst can take over at any time, so here are three things we recommend doing instead of drinking with whitening strips on:
- Drink before you put strips on — This is perhaps obvious, but it is worth mentioning anyway. To mitigate against thirst during your whitening treatment, always drink water before applying the strips. You’re less likely to feel the need to drink for the next 30 minutes to an hour that way.
- Rinse beforehand — If your mouth feels dry, rinse it out with water. Again, you should do this before applying the strips, otherwise they may slip or pull away from your tooth, leading to poor results.
- Wait — If you forgot to drink and rinse your mouth before the treatment, you need to wait until you’ve taken the whitening strips off to drink water (or other beverages) again.
Final Advice for Best Results
You now know that drinking water with whitening strips on is a big no-no, but is that the only trick to maximizing your results? Not at all! While there are plenty of tips and tricks to be aware of, the following are the most important:
- Don’t eat while the strips are on — Since we’ve discussed the importance of drinking with whitening strips on, it’s worth mentioning that you shouldn’t eat during the treatment, either. Eating during whitening can create bacteria buildup, dilute the whitening agent, and cause you to swallow gel residue.
- Follow the instructions — Always follow the instructions on the packaging carefully. Not all whitening strips are the same, so ensuring you don’t overuse them is essential for results that won’t increase tooth sensitivity.
- Rinse your mouth afterward — After the treatment, rinse your mouth water to eradicate any leftover residue.
- Wait 30 minutes before drinking — Last but certainly not least, wait half an hour after using whitening strips before drinking water again. It’s a good idea to wait between one and two hours before drinking other beverages, especially tea, coffee, red wine, and berry juices, again.
The Bottom Line
You shouldn’t drink water with whitening strips on, as you run the risk of reducing the whitening agent’s ability to properly brighten your smile. However, you don’t have to deal with thirst for your entire treatment. Instead, remember to drink water and rinse your mouth before applying the whitening strips. That way, you’ll feel quenched and have brilliantly white teeth!
