14 Aug Preston Dentist Tips: Over-the-Counter Whitening or Professional Teeth Whitening?
Everyone wants a beautiful white smile, but no one wants to risk their dental health to achieve it.
This is why at Preston Supreme Dental; we always recommend you use professional whitening treatment.
Over-the-counter teeth whitening kits might seem like a quick, easy solution to get that brighter smile, but they can significantly damage your teeth, gums, and even your stomach.
In-office teeth whitening services guarantee you great results, quickly, safely, and efficiently without damaging your dental health.
This is why in-office teeth whitening is among the most requested cosmetic dental procedures.
Over-the-counter Options
Over-the-counter products include:
Whitening rinses. These are in your mouth for only seconds a day, don’t whiten much, and can take many weeks to whiten teeth.
Whitening toothpaste. This toothpaste can take 2-6 weeks to whiten your teeth slightly and only works on superficial stains. They can also lead to tooth sensitivity.
Some whitening toothpaste uses abrasive agents to ‘grind’ off stains, which is damaging to your tooth enamel.
Gel strips. These strips are ‘stuck’ to your teeth, twice daily, for 10 to 20 days. Normally, they only work on your front six teeth, and the number of shades they can whiten is limited.
Over-the-counter whitening trays. These trays are filled with bleaching gel and placed over the teeth.
Because the trays are mass-produced, they often don’t fit well, rubbing and irritating gums, or allowing the gel to leak out, causing gum and stomach irritation.
The two differences between the OTC systems and the professional systems are the way the chemically active gel is applied to the teeth, and the level of concentration.
Professional systems use a custom-manufactured “tray” that holds the hydrogen peroxide gel in contact with the teeth.
This prevents contact with the gums or spillage that can be swallowed. Additionally, because a highly trained professional is applying the gel, the chance of something going wrong is drastically reduced.
Finally, the bleaching power of whitening gel used in professional whitening is also more than twice as high as that of OTC treatments.
Let’s take a closer look at three ways in which professional teeth whitening is superior to OTC kits.
Safety
Most OTC whitening products are safe, especially if you stick with reputable brands. However, even with the most reliable OTC whitening product, the lack of professional supervision poses potential problems.
Most whitening treatments contain Hydrogen Peroxide (or something similar), which can harm your health.
Whitening products can be accidentally misused or, even worse, overapplied in an effort to speed up or enhance results. Users can end up causing permanent damage to their gums and tooth enamel.
While many OTC whitening solutions are relatively weak, some are extremely strong and therefore dangerous. Even people who decide to choose OTC kits for their teeth whitening would be wise to consult with Preston Supreme Dental before using any product.
Efficacy
No OTC teeth whitening product on the market that can match the results of professional teeth whitening systems.
Because a dental professional performs in-office whitening or prepares your at-home kit, the concentration of whitening agent can be double, or more, than that of OTC products.
Professional in-office whitening can also take advantage of light-accelerated bleaching, which is not possible at home.
With in-office professional whitening, you can whiten your teeth up to 8 shades in just one visit! No OTC product can offer this kind of whitening at this accelerated speed.
If you find an OTC product that claims even close to what professional whitening can achieve, you should approach it with scepticism and probably avoid it entirely.
Cost
On first look, OTC teeth whitening products seem to have an advantage over professional teeth whitening in terms of price.
But this difference decreases as you look at a more extended time period, in which professional teeth whitening becomes the winner by far.
When you receive a professional teeth whitening treatment, you will benefit from a dramatically whiter smile, and your natural-looking white smile will last for years to come.
You’ll have a touch-up kit to help maintain your results. OTC whitening kits offer far less dramatic results at a much slower speed.
OTC kits also increase the risk of irritation or damage to your teeth, gums or stomach. The decreased results you do achieve will have to be kept up with constant use of the whitening kit, and this expense adds up over time.
Surprisingly, you may wind up paying more for results that take longer to achieve and don’t get near the results you could have achieved through professional teeth whitening.
Teeth Whitening at Preston Supreme Dental
The Preston Supreme Dental Team
At Preston Supreme Dental, our highly trained dentists are patient-centred and believe that all patients should be able to enjoy a relaxing dental experience.
We are located across Woolworths Supermarket and beside Preston Market on Murray Road, between St Georges Rd and High St, with public transportation nearby (bus stop within walking distance)!
Preston dentist is also serving local communities in Coburg, Northcote, Thornbury, Bundoora and Reservoir.
Teeth Whitening Promotion
$590 Teeth Whitening ZOOM in Chair Treatment
Call us on (03) 9478 7708 or request your appointment online. We are located at 243 Murray Road in Preston.