Everyone wants a fabulous smile and there are many options to whiten your teeth. There are two categories of teeth whitening options to choose from: professional, in-office bleaching or at-home products. Both treatment options contain peroxide-based bleaching agents. At-home products have a lower concentration (between 3 and 20 percent hydrogen peroxide) while professional treatments contain between 15 and 40% percent hydrogen peroxide.
If you’re considering whether to whiten your teeth at home or have it done professionally by a cosmetic dentist, we’ll help you understand the pros and cons of each system. An at-home product pay provide an ok result for some people, however the advantages of professional teeth whitening are many. There are some downsides of at-home teeth whitening products you should be aware of.
In general:
- The stronger the level of hydrogen peroxide used on your teeth, the whiter they become.
- Stronger levels of the whitening solution can be applied to the teeth for a shorter period of time and still get good results.
- Tooth whitening gel left on teeth for too long can dehydrate teeth and increase tooth sensitivity, which can cause pain and sensitivity. This is one of the reasons why at-home products may not always be the best option.
- Teeth whitening gel left on the teeth for too long, can lead to pain when you eat certain foods.
- It’s much more likely that the at-home system will be misused since it’s not performed under the supervision of a dental professional.
Before you decide between at-home or in-office teeth whitening, talk with Dr Vicky about the pros and cons of both systems. Depending on the goals for your smile, there may be several options available to you. We’ve heard from many patients that they’ve been disappointed with the results from at-home kits, so opted to have professional teeth whitening in our office with awesome results.
Stronger Peroxide
Teeth whitening performed in our office works much faster than at-home whitening kits because of the stronger peroxide solution and attention to detail from our experienced dental team. Based on your needs and health of your teeth, we customise each treatment for maximum results. You just can’t have that level of control with at-home kits. The cost of professional teeth whitening is more than an at-home kit, but the results from our dental clinic prove that you get what you pay for.
Professional Care
The biggest benefit to having your teeth whitened at our clinic is vigilance and the fact that the dentist is watching to make sure nothing goes wrong or isn’t working during your treatment. Teeth whitening is a proven and popular treatment, however gum irritation is a common problem and tooth sensitivity can also occur such that extremely cold or extremely hot foods are irritating after the procedure.
Since the whole goal of teeth whitening is to end up with a bright, white smile, most people find that the best option is to have their teeth whitened professionally.
Teeth whitening in the hands of an experienced dental professional in the comfort of a dentist’s chair means you can sit back and relax during the procedure. At the end of your appointment (which is about one hour), you’ll leave the office with a bright white smile.
When you’re ready to see how bright your teeth can be with just one session of teeth whitening, call our office for a free smile assessment.
