Teeth Whitening

In the teeth whitening world of today, there are literally dozens of affordable teeth whitening products. And that’s a good thing too because not everyone can afford to take the time and spend the money on a dental office visit to whiten their teeth. A whitening treatment from your dentist could cost $300.00 or more so having lower-priced options that you can use yourself in your own home can save you a bundle.

Dentist treatments do have their advantages though. For instance, one visit can accomplish what several home teeth whitening treatments can and more. That’s because the dentist works with stronger bleaching agents than you or I can buy over-the-counter at the drug store. But home treatments have their advantages too. You’re in much more control with a home treatment and can schedule them whenever they’re convenient for you. Let’s look at some of the different treatments available.

One popular method uses whitening trays and works very much like the treatments your dentist gives. With this treatment, special dental mouthpieces are filled with whitening gel and worn around both upper and lower teeth. The idea is to wear them once or twice a day for about 30 minutes each time.

The whitening gel contains a form of peroxide which is the active whitening ingredient. The level of peroxide can be as high as 35% with these gels - the higher the level, the faster the whitening. And getting started with a set of trays and some gel can cost from around $50.00 on up to $100.00 or more. Even at $100.00 it’s still much cheaper than a dental whitening visit.

The next treatment is the most convenient one; it’s the brush-on treatment. With this method, you brush the whitening gel directly onto your teeth with an applicator and let it “set up” a bit. Once it solidifies, the peroxide in the gel goes to work on your teeth. The peroxide content in these treatments is only 5% or so, which means it will take a lot longer to see any significant results when compared to other treatments. The upside however is that this is the kind of treatment you can use at just about any time during the day and the little applicators can easily fit in your pocket. Oh, and the price is only $30.00 to $50.00 or so.

The last whitening method we’ll look at is the tape/strip method. With this technique you apply a thin tape-like strip directly to your upper and/or lower teeth. The strip is embedded with a peroxide gel - anywhere from 3% to 14% depending on the product. And as the strip sticks to your teeth, the gel is allowed to cover your teeth and do its work. Most “whitening kits” come with one to two week’s worth of strips and require one or two sessions each day to improve your smile. They’re about as convenient as any at home teeth whitening can get and the price is right too - between $30.00 and $60.00 for a single kit.

So you see, you don’t have to pay a lot of money and suffer the inconvenience of going to a dentist to whiten your teeth. There are plenty of affordable teeth whitening options you can pick up at your local drug store. They work slower than the dentist but they’re definitely more affordable.