Dental bills can really pile up, so for affordable teeth whitening you might be thinking of trying products that you can use and apply yourself at home. These may certainly be effective, but you should still recognize that there are definite differences between these over-the-counter whitening products and the sort of teeth whitener solutions that would be available in the setting of a dental professional’s office. For example, the concentrations of the chemicals used will be lower in the home products than in those used in the office.

In a professional dental situation, the dentist will typically use custom fitted trays that are filled with some type of whitening gel, which will be placed around the teeth for several minutes, probably more than once. There will be a relatively high concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the whitening substance that helps to eliminate stains from your teeth.

To protect the gums surrounding the teeth from possible chemical burns from this oxidizing agent, the dentist will also paint them with a protective agent. By means of this protection, the whitener can be utilized in a higher concentration.

With a teeth whitening kit used at home, there is less protection for the exposed gums, so the concentration of the peroxide is always lower than what a dental professional would use in their office. Another factor that might make a home teeth whitener potentially less effective is that the trays containing the bleaching gel are much more generically shaped and less well fitted to an individual’s teeth than those a dentist uses. This can leave parts of the teeth unbleached, especially near the gum line and in spaces between the teeth.

Using dental strips as a teeth whitener may also cause a problem with coverage, as they cross the teeth with even less molding to the contours and shapes of those teeth. In addition, these whitening methods only work well with teeth that have a yellowish tinge, but not with those that start with a grayish color. A teeth whitening system designed for home use may be less expensive and make the job easier than going into a dentist’s office, but those who use these products should be aware of the tradeoffs involved in resorting to them.

There are lots of products and procedures available these days to bleach teeth. That’s because many people realize that a whiter smile is a relatively easy way to look younger and more attractive. Click here to learn more about the best teeth bleaching methods available.