Over-the-Counter vs. Professional Teeth Whitening
Serving Patients from Medford, Klamath Falls, Ashland, Yreka and Central Point
Anyone interested in having a brighter, whiter smile has dozens of options and products to choose from. There are in-office, professional, laser or light-enhanced teeth whitening procedures, take-home trays, whitening strips, mouthwashes, and whitening toothpastes, among other things. Do they all work? To some degree, yes. Will they all eventually produce the same results? No. Here are some reasons why this is.
Concentration of active bleaching agents - Over-the-counter whitening products have a very low concentration of peroxide - usually in the 10 to 15 percent range. Higher concentrations are not FDA-approved for over-the-counter sales. Your dentist can provide you with take-home kits that have a higher concentration gel than what you can buy at the store. However, this leads us into our next problem with both take-home trays and store-bought whitening products.
Consistency of results - Take-home trays and strips do not always apply consistent treatment across the entire surface of your teeth. It is very easy for saliva or a small shift in the placement of a tray or strip to wipe the bleaching gel from areas of a tooth’s surface. This can result in areas of the teeth that are whiter than others, which in some ways can be less aesthetically desirable than a consistently stained tooth.
Instant gratification - While over-the-counter products work well for some people, many have spent hundreds of dollars on these products only to see no noticeable results. We see a lot of these cases at Eagle Point Dental.
Our DenMat plasma arc light or laser whitening procedures can produce in an hour or less what months of diligent application of over-the-counter products may never be able to do. Our procedure guarantees that each tooth is whitened consistently to the exact shade of whiteness that looks best and most natural for you.
Keep in mind that some causes of teeth discoloration cannot be corrected through bleaching. Please see our tooth discoloration page for further information. And for more information on our teeth whitening procedure, please visit our teeth whitening page, as well as our questions about teeth whitening page.
If you live in Southern Oregon and are interested in getting back the bright, confident smile you once had, we can help. Please contact us today to arrange your consultation.
800.899.6990
Contact Us
Eagle Point Dental Center for Advanced Dentistry
217 W. Main St
Eagle Point, OR 97524
