Your smile is often the first thing other people will notice about you. How do you feel about your smile? Do you find yourself feeling embarrassed by yellow or stained teeth?
Professional teeth whitening is a fast, effective way to reveal a whiter smile and boost your self-confidence, so it’s understandable why it’s our most popular cosmetic dental treatment.
If you’re curious about getting a whiter smile, we made this guide to cover everything you need to know about teeth whitening, including:
- Teeth whitening benefits
- Reasons to consider teeth whitening
- Professional teeth whitening vs over-the-counter teeth whitening kits
- What the teeth whitening process involves
- In-chair teeth whitening vs professional at-home whitening kits
- How to know if you are a good candidate for teeth whitening
The Aesthetic Appeal: Boosting Your Confidence with a Brighter Smile
There’s something about a white, bright smile that just helps us feel good about ourselves. And science backs this up.
This study found that teeth whitening had a positive effect on participants’ aesthetic perception, psychology, and quality of life-related to their oral health. Teeth whitening can provide a variety of aesthetic benefits, including:
- Increased self-confidence in social situations, the workplace, and everyday life
- Better overall self-esteem
- May help you appear more intelligent, friendly, attractive, and social
- May help you make better first impressions
- Can help you look years younger by removing the grey, brown, or yellowish discolourations that are caused over time as we age
Health and Hygiene Benefits: More Than Just a Pretty Smile
Along with the vanity benefits of a brighter smile, professional teeth whitening can also help boost your oral health.
Because teeth whitening involves a professional cleaning, plaque and debris is removed to help prevent gum disease and cavities.
The checkup also gives us a chance to detect any oral health issues early and address them before they turn into more serious issue. Taking care of your oral health also supports overall health, possibly decreasing your risk of a variety of conditions.
Professional Teeth Whitening vs. Over-the-Counter Whitening: Which is Right for You?
Here are 7 benefits of professional teeth whitening vs over-the-counter teeth whitening kits:
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Ensure You Are a Good Candidate
If you are not a good candidate for tooth whitening, you may end up with a lack of results, enamel damage, or tooth sensitivity.
Working with a dentist ensures you are a good candidate for the whitening procedure. Your dentist will also determine the root cause of your discolouration.
While teeth whitening is highly effective against surface stains, tobacco stains, and most discolouration, there are some cases where tooth whitening is not effective.
For instance, if you have a tooth that is darkened from trauma, you will not be able to whiten it and will end up with uneven results.
Crowns, fillings, and veneers also do not respond to whitening and require the supervision of your dentist to ensure even, aesthetically pleasing results.
Your dentist will make sure you are a good candidate for teeth whitening and that your teeth stains will respond well to the treatment.
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Start With a Healthy Mouth
Working with a dentist also ensures you start with a clean, healthy mouth. Applying whitening gel or strips over plaque build up or subtle surface stains will leave you with poor results.
Undergoing a full checkup and professional cleaning before the whitening treatment will allow you to get your best results. A full checkup also ensures that any oral health issues are detected and addressed.
Ignoring gum disease or a cracked filling prior to a whitening treatment can lead to sensitivity issues, discomfort, and reduced results.
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Minimise Tooth Sensitivity
Tooth sensitivity can be a side effect of teeth whitening but it is typically subtle and temporary. However, using OTC whitening products can put you at greater risk of sensitivity issues.
When you work with us, we monitor your progress and sensitivity concerns closely. Along with tailoring your whitening plan to your oral health and smile goals, we take steps to minimise teeth sensitivity and prevent any complications.
For instance, we incorporate the use of a liquid rubber dam or hardening resin to prevent contact between the whitening gel and gum tissue. This greatly reduces sensitivity and helps keep you comfortable during and after the whitening process. We can also use desensitisers such as fluoride and potassium nitrate to minimise tooth and gum sensitivity.
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Custom-Fit Trays
When you buy an over-the-counter whitening kit with dental trays, they are a one-size-fits-all approach. The trays may cover too much of your gums, unnecessarily exposing your gum tissue to the whitening gel and increasing your risk of sensitivity.
Custom trays through a dentist are also thinner and fit the exact contours of your mouth, ensuring a higher level of comfort.
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Safety and Professional Monitoring
Using a take-home whitening kit through 123 Dental also gives you access to professional advice and monitoring. If you have questions or sensitivity concerns, we can adjust the treatment accordingly and advise you how to continue.
The concentration of hydrogen peroxide gel and the frequency you apply it play a significant role in tooth sensitivity issues. Using whitening products too frequently, exposing your gum tissue to the gel, or using too high of a concentration can all damage your tooth structure and cause sensitivity.
With professional monitoring through your dentist, all of these risks are minimised. With 123 Dental Perth, we strive to create a whitening process that is comfortable, effective, and free of sensitivity issues.
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Faster and Better Results
An in-chair whitening treatment with us can have you enjoying a smile up to 8 shades whiter in less than an hour. With our take-home whitening kit, you can experience several shades of whitening in just a matter of weeks.
Both of these methods are far faster and produce more noticeable results than store-bought whitening products such as toothpaste, strips, and gels. These over-the-counter whitening methods can take weeks or months just to whiten your teeth a shade or two.
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Longer Lasting Results
Along with faster, more noticeable brightening, professional whitening offers longer lasting results.
Although in-chair whitening does not offer permanent results, you can enjoy whiter teeth for up to a year or more with professional whitening.
With store-bought whitening products, results are more subtle and usually only last up to several months.
Whether you choose store-bought, in-chair, or a take-home whitening kit from your dentist, follow these steps to maintain your results:
- Follow a good oral hygiene routine
- See your dentist for regular checkups
- Drink enough water
- Avoid soft drinks and sugary drinks
- Limit or avoid highly pigmented foods and drinks (i.e. coffee, black tea, red wine, berries)
- Do not smoke or use tobacco products
- Follow a whitening maintenance routine as directed by your dentist
Debunking Myths: The Truth About Teeth Whitening Safety
When our patients enquire about teeth whitening, their biggest concerns are the possibility of gum irritation and teeth sensitivity. And these concerns are valid, especially for individuals with severe gum disease or extreme teeth sensitivity.
Tooth and gum sensitivity can occur as a side effect of whitening treatments. This is more common in over-the-counter products with their one-size-fits-all approach.
While the concentration of the bleaching agent is lower in store-bought whitening kits, there is no professional monitoring during treatment. The trays often fit poorly, covering too much of the gum tissue and irritating it. Or, individuals follow the plan as described but end up with irritation and sensitivity because the frequency of application is too high.
We minimise these risks by performing a thorough dental exam beforehand to make sure you are a good candidate for teeth whitening. We check the health of your teeth and gums and look for signs of micro-cracks, gum disease, and tooth decay. Any of these issues put you at a higher risk of experiencing discomfort or sensitivity from teeth whitening.
We’ll correct these issues beforehand, improving your oral health and ensuring a safer teeth whitening process and a better outcome.
Our professional teeth whitening is customised to the exact shape of your mouth, ensuring the highest level of comfort. We also pay close attention to sensitivity concerns. For patients with heightened tooth sensitivity, we have a variety of tools we can utitlise.
For starters, we protect your cheeks, tongue, and gums from damage by preventing gum tissue from direct contact with the hydrogen peroxide gel. We can also make adjustments to reduce sensitivity, such as using a desensitising gel during treatment or a thicker hydrogen peroxide gel
Who Should Consider Teeth Whitening? (And Who Shouldn’t)
Professional teeth whitening is considered safe for the majority of people who want a white, youthful-looking smile.
At 123 Dental Perth, we only use the safest whitening products and treatment techniques to ensure the highest safety and quality.
Although professional teeth whitening is generally safe, we do not recommend it for:
- Patients below 18 years of age
- Pregnant women
- Individuals with extremely sensitive teeth
- Individuals who are currently wearing braces
- Individuals with advanced periodontal disease or deteriorating gums
- Individuals with inorganic teeth staining, staining due to trauma, or overexposure to fluoride (these types of stains do not respond to even the most effective teeth whitening treatments)
What Is the Professional Teeth Whitening Process Like?
“Dentist” and “relaxing” may not be two words you associate together, but our patients often end up dozing off during the in-chair whitening procedure.
Our in-chair whitening treatment is simple and fast. All you have to do is sit back and let the gel do its work.
Most of our patients describe the teeth whitening process as totally painless, but some patients report a subtle burning sensation. If your teeth and gums are healthy, you most likely won’t feel a thing.
Our Zoom! Teeth whitening system never removes teeth enamel and uses a highly effective 25% hydrogen peroxide-infused whitening gel. This is a high percentage, but it has been proven safe in clinical studies and research.
Here are the two simple steps in Zoom! Chairside whitening:
- In-Chair Teeth Whitening Step #1: Dental Cleaning — The first part of the whitening procedure involves a thorough cleaning to remove any plaque or food debris. This eliminates any surface staining and ensures a clean slate before we use the whitening gel. We also take photos of the teeth to compare them to our shade guide and use as a comparison to your final result.
- In-Chair Teeth Whitening Step #2: Bleaching the Teeth — The gum tissue is protected against irritation using a liquid rubber dam or hardening resin. Then, the hydrogen peroxide whitening gel is applied to the teeth for 15 to 30 minutes.
We wash off the gel and apply another round of bleach if needed. Once the desired results are achieved, we rinse the mouth. To maintain your results at home, our patients also receive complimentary custom-made trays and take-home bleaching gel.
Can Professional Teeth Whitening Be Done At Home?
At 123 Dental Perth, we also offer professional strength Take Home Whitening Kits. You can use these convenient yet effective kits on your own schedule and achieve incredible results.
Our take-home whitening kits consist of custom-fitted trays that you wear overnight for up to 14 days, depending on the whitening schedule we determine for you.
While it takes longer to get results with take-home whitening kits compared to an in-chair procedure, you’ll still be enjoying a noticeably whiter smile in a matter of days.
Our at-home kits are a great middle ground for patients who want professional-level whitening results at home.
Not sure if Zoom in-chair whitening or a take-home kit is best for you? You can learn more about these popular teeth whitening treatments and which is right for you in our in-depth guide here: Zoom vs Take-Home Teeth Whitening Kits.
