Teeth Whitening

Cosmetic Dentist Serving San Jose, Sunnyvale and the Bay Area

Teeth whitening falls into two basic categories – at home whitening and in office whitening. Both methods use hydrogen peroxide or the derivative, carbamide peroxide to whiten teeth.

At-home teeth whitening

At home bleaching of teeth ranges from over-the-counter products such as Crest White Strips to products you can only get from your dentist. All of them work to some degree.

However, without exception, at home bleaching products work best with a custom made tray fitted to your teeth by a dentist. This is because custom trays hold the bleaching gel in the correct position. Any over-the-counter or online internet product that offers “trays” will use methods to fabricate the tray that are crude by dental office standards and produce an ill-fitting tray.

The machines that construct the dental office trays range in cost from $300 to about $2000. You are unlikely to have these machines at home. A good at-home bleaching system, when used with a custom tray, can be just as effective as an in-office teeth whitening. The difference is in cost and time.

At home bleaching systems range in cost from $10 – $20 to several hundred dollars. Also, most at-home bleaching systems would take about 2 weeks to accomplish the same result as one hour of in-office teeth whitening.

Besides the ill-fitting tray, two other disadvantages of at-home systems bought over the counter or on the internet are that:

You do not have the benefit of a dentist monitoring your progress and your compliance with instructions for proper use
The bleaching gel has a lower concentration than the gel used in a dentist’s office, and is therefore slower to work and less effective.

In-office teeth whitening

In-office bleaching/whitening is accomplished with a higher concentration of bleaching gel and usually with a high intensity light. “Laser” bleaching is mostly a marketing ploy, as many intense light systems are just as effective without the cost of a laser. For example, the two most popular in-office whitening systems, Bright Smile and Zoom!, do not use lasers. The in-office systems are very fast and usually produce at least 6 shade changes in about an hour. Yellow/brown teeth whiten better than gray/blue teeth.

Both systems can increase sensitivity in your teeth. This is reversible and usually lasts no more than a day. In RARE cases, permanent nerve damage has been reported, leading to root canal therapy. These rare cases are always related to misuse of the product or to patients not following the instructions. Overall, teeth whitening is the most common and safest procedure in cosmetic dentistry.

Common Dental Problems

Frequently Asked Tooth Whitening Questions

If you would like to learn more about teeth whitening or any of the procedures or treatments Dr. Wayland provides, or if you would like to find out what cosmetic dentistry techniques he can use to correct your smile, contact him today to schedule your initial consultation.