Professional teeth whitening products now available over the counter

Remember the days when you had to pay upwards of $300 to get rid of those coffee stains on your teeth? Well, those days are over and nowadays a whole array of professional teeth whitening products is flooding the market. Once the preserve of pricey dentists and well-heeled clients, professional teeth whitening has become the playground of the common person. You no longer have to spend a fortune to attain a Julia Roberts smile. While it remains expensive to visit a dentist, for teeth whitening, you don’t have to! Just go to your local drugstore.

In the past, dentists would dispense professional teeth whitening products for home use, and the average cost would be between $300-$500. The product would be a tray-based system that contained a custom-made mould for your teeth and a whitening gel composed of peroxide-based bleaching agent. The mould would be filled with the gel and fitted over the upper and lower teeth, and left overnight every night for four weeks or more. The bleaching agent would remain in contact with your teeth for long enough to reduce the staining and yellowness.

Now there are products available that contain the same active ingredient in professional teeth whitening products – a peroxide-based bleach. This bleach can be of two types – carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide. Of the two, hydrogen peroxide is more potent and used in lower concentrations. Carbamide peroxide is considered safer by many experts and is widely used as well. There are tray-based systems available over-the-counter for as little as $15 all the way up to $200. These treatments also use the same peroxide-based bleach bit in much lower concentrations, making them safe for home use.

In addition to the tray-based system, many other alternatives are available that are more convenient to use, such as whitening strips, paint-on gels and toothpastes. These products also contain the peroxide bleach used in professional teeth whitening systems. Whitening strips cost between $10 and $55. Paint-on gels cost upwards of $15 and toothpastes hardly touch the wallet at $3-$4. So while the home treatment may be longer in duration, due to the lower concentrations of peroxide, they are more economical and can be used in the comfort of your own home.

Professional teeth whitening is a cosmetic procedure, not an essential health service and thus, is generally not covered by dental insurance. Since the advent of more advanced over-the-counter teeth whitening products, there is no need to spend a large amount of money for lightening your pearly whites. Whitening strips in particular, have achieved success in the market and many experts and testers claim that they work well. You do need to make sure that you press the strips flat against every gap in your teeth. Paint-on gels are convenient to use with an applicator brush twice a day or overnight for four weeks.

Over-the-counter products produce results that typically last six months, similar to professional teeth whitening systems. As long as you avoid smoking or consuming foods and beverages that stain your teeth, such as tea and coffee, the whitened effect will remain visible for up to six months. With such a frequent need for touch-ups, it’s no wonder that people prefer the over-the-counter products that are far more economical and are based on the same technology. So now more of us can smile and feel like a million dollars.