Professional (laser) teeth whitening

Professional teeth whitening treatments (also called "laser" or in-office whitening) offer a good bleaching solution for some people. Many people simply don't have an interest in treating themselves with an at-home whitening system. They prefer the convenience and time savings that in-office treatment offers, even if their overall costs can be expected to be greater. 

Which is best for you, in-office whitening treatments or using an at-home product?

If you are considering whitening your teeth, you generally have two options available to you. One is to have your bleaching treatments performed by your dentist in their office (this is termed professional, in-office or laser whitening). The other is to opt to perform your whitening treatments on your own (unsupervised), on your own time...

And because these two options exist, one of the main questions people seem to have is: Which is best, having your dentist perform professional teeth whitening treatments or using an at-home system?

In response to this question, we'd first like to state that using the word "best" really is not the proper way to phrase this question. Because the truth of the matter is that both methods have the potential to create the same whitening end results.

Here's why. Peroxide-based teeth whitening is generally considered to be a function of the following two factors:

  1. The concentration of peroxide in the whitener.
  2. The amount of time this whitener is in contact with the surface of the user's teeth.

This implies (and this may come as a surprise to you) that in order to produce the same degree of lightening, a teeth whitening system can either:

   - Employ a low concentration whitener for an extended period of time - The method utilized by at-home teeth whitening products.
   - Or else use higher concentration whitener for a comparatively shorter period of time - The method used by professional teeth whitening treatments performed by dentists. 

Comparing professional teeth bleaching with at-home teeth whitening treatments.

Here are some characteristics of professional and at-home teeth whitening systems...

Some advantages and disadvantages of at-home teeth whitening:

  - The user must be capable of performing and complying with the whitening system's technique and instructions.
   -  The person must have the time and inclination to perform their whitening treatments.
   -  It can take some weeks or even months before the final results are seen with at-home systems.
   -  At-home teeth whitening products usually cost less than professional teeth bleaching treatments.

Some advantages and disadvantages of professional teeth whitening:

    - A whitening effect is seen immediately after each treatment.
    - A person's whitening is accomplished in just a few appointments, possibly even just one.
    - Professional teeth whitening usually costs more than at-home teeth whitening products.