There are many benefits to teeth whitening, from enhancing your smile and overall facial appearance to making you look (and feel) younger and, for some people, even giving you a more positive outlook on life because of the confidence boost teeth whitening can deliver. While there are many advantages associated with whitening and brightening your smile, it’s very important to make the right decisions about the teeth whitening treatment you use.
In Australia, teeth whitening products are safe to use and won’t damage your teeth (as long as you follow the instructions with at-home treatments). However, there’s a significant price gap between some at-home (over the counter) treatments and professional treatments, and some treatments are significantly more effective than others. Naturally, you want the best results at the right price, so here we look at over-the-counter vs in-clinic teeth whitening.
Ease Of Use
How easy is the treatment? This isn’t a concern with the in-clinic teeth whitening procedures our experienced dentist in Templestowe offers, but if you’re opting for an over the counter teeth whitening treatment, you’ll need to find one that’s simple and straightforward to use.
Many people who’ve tried at-home teeth whitening treatments find them difficult to use, with most products requiring multiple treatments. In fact, some at-home teeth whitening kits must be applied 1-2 times per day for up to 2 hours over the course of several weeks. With professional teeth whitening on the other hand, there’s just a single visit to your local dentist.
Effectiveness
How effective is the teeth whitening treatment? This is an important consideration when comparing over-the-counter products and professional procedures. While an at-home teeth whitening product may seem more affordable at first, if you need to apply it more than once it could be significantly more expensive in the long run.
Don’t forget that most at-home kits can only make your teeth 2-4 times whiter while a professional procedure performed by a qualified teeth whitening dentist can make your teeth 8-16 times whiter. That’s a significant difference and a major reason why more people are opting for professional in-clinic teeth whitening instead of over-the-counter kits. What’s more, some over-the-counter kits for use at home, like teeth whitening strips, provide inconsistent results because they can’t whiten the areas around the crevices of your teeth.
At King Street Dental Group, we use a specially formulated hydrogen peroxide whitening gel that entirely covers your teeth and, when activated by a state-of-the-art LED light, breaks down to allow oxygen to penetrate through the dentine and enamel, lifting discolouration from the tooth without affecting its structure. This provides consistent and effective results, brightening your smile by around eight shades (on average). We also offer Zoom Teeth Whitening, which is one of the most effective at-home teeth whitening solutions in Australia.
If you’d like to learn more about the professional procedures our teeth whitening dentists offer at King Street Dental Group in Templestowe or our at-home teeth whitening solutions, please contact us on (03) 8842 4506 or book an appointment online.