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What is the best type of teeth whitening?

Teeth whitening is the most popular cosmetic dental procedure that we provide in our Victoria, TX dental office.  Patients read about it in magazines, see ads on TV, and see products that they can according to the ads buy themselves in the store and online. So, what is the difference between the different tooth whitening methods out there? Which is the best way to whiten teeth?

First we have to understand that everyone’s teeth are different and so different peoples teeth may respond very differently to the same teeth bleaching method.  Tooth stains can be surface stains that are fairly easy to bleach or polish off, but given enough time tooth stains can be very deep in teeth and therefore much harder to remove. As a  general rule, the older a patient is the deeper the stains are in the tooth.  So, just as deeper stains took more time to get deeper in the teeth so it can take more time with the bleach to get them out. Lets talk about the different methods to bleach.

All bleach that patients can buy anywhere outside of a dental office is Hydrogen Peroxide based bleach.  This bleach reacts very quickly and can be effective with superficial stains. The disadvantages of it is that it cannot be left on the the teeth too long without causing sensitive teeth, and also since it is one size fits all there is not a tight fit that keeps saliva out and the bleach in. Saliva deactivates and dilutes the bleach, making it much less effective.

Professional bleach from a dental office is usually Carbamide Peroxide. Carbamide Peroxide tooth bleach slowly breaks down into hydrogen peroxide over time, therefore greatly extending the length of time that the bleach is active on the tooth. This tends to allow the bleach to reach stains deeper in the teeth. We make custom fit tooth bleaching trays that precisely hold the bleach on the front of the teeth and make a seal to keep the bleach in and the saliva out. Yes, this will cost more initially than store bought tooth bleach but I believe that over time it will be more cost effective.  Because of the custom fit, very little bleach is needed in the tray and the bleach refills are economical.

There are some patients though that want teeth whitening results to be faster or might even have tougher stains to remove. For those patients, we use our in office teeth bleaching system that is called Kor Whitening.  This system predictably bleaches teeth about as white as we can get them in only 2 weeks. We do 2 one hour in office treatments, one at the beginning and one at the end which uses our most powerful bleach. Its so strong that we have to do it here in the office for safety. We also make very accurate custom trays to use at home, which are also used about once per month thereafter to maintain the new white tooth shade. The Kor System also uses very potent tooth desensitizers to to prevent unwanted sensitivity. I used to have the Zoom Whitening system, but I can now say the the Kor Whitening System gives far more predictable tooth whitening results with less sensitivity. The before and after photos I think speak for themselves here. If you would like whiter teeth, please give us a call at 361-573-7722 so that we can see what bleaching system is right for your needs.