Millions of people spend $500 and up to have their teeth whitened in a dentist’s office. It’s safe to say that millions more would love to have whiter teeth, but don’t want to spend that much money.
The good news for the budget conscious is that teeth whitening at home can produce results that are just as great as what can be achieved by a professional. If you know a few simple tricks, you can get fabulous results at home.
There are so many teeth whitening products, how do you know which one to choose? You want to look for a product that has one of the following as the active ingredient: carbamide peroxide, urea peroxide or percarbamide. That ingredient is typically what will be used in a dentist’s office, although in a stronger formula.
Whether to choose strips, trays or pens will be discussed in the next section.
Obviously, the whitening agent you use for teeth whitening at home can only be effective if it actually makes contact with your teeth. For that reason, the delivery method is just as important as the whitening agent.
Pens are not ideal as they do not allow the product to stay in contact with the teeth for a sufficient amount of time.
Trays are a good choice as long as the tray is a good fit. In a dentist’s office, the tray would be custom made to fit. The trays you buy at a drug store will be more of the one-size-fits-all variety. Still, if the tray fits well enough that the whitening agent stays in contact with all of your teeth, it will do the trick.
Strips are also a good choice. The reason they work well for many people is because they can be pressed firmly onto each tooth. The trick is taking the time to do that. Don’t just place the strip on the teeth. Push the strip firmly against each tooth for maximum results.
Finally, when saving money by doing your teeth whitening at home, be patient. While you can achieve the same results as at your dentist’s office, it may take longer. Some techniques, such as Zoom! whitening, allow teeth to get up to 10 shades whiter in one visit. Your at-home results are going to take longer.
For many people the wait is worth it, because they can achieve the same results for a fraction of the cost. That’s something to smile about.
