There are a few distinctions between at-home and professional teeth whitening services, including their effectiveness, cost, and time commitment. It’s important to weigh the impact of these differences before you decide how you want to brighten your smile.
Bagoff Dental Arts is here to help break down how these two teeth whitening strategies can impact your smile so you can determine which might best suit your interests.
When Do You Need to Whiten Your Teeth?
It’s in your best interest to whiten your teeth when you find yourself dealing with:
Food Stains
Several everyday foods can have a detrimental impact on the whiteness of a person’s teeth. Tea, coffee, and red wine can all leave intense colors behind on a person’s teeth, even when that person engages in regular dental care.
Nicotine Addiction
Nicotine from tobacco products both tend to introduce dark stains onto a person’s teeth. Someone who’s fighting to overcome a nicotine addiction may find themselves trying to get rid of yellow or brown stains that never seem to go away.
Unfortunately, the prolonged use of tobacco products can permanently damage your enamel, making you more likely to develop cavities.
Tooth Age and Trauma
There’s no stopping the ticking of the clock when it comes to getting older. This means that it’s more likely for older dental patients to have weaker enamel – and subsequently, less white teeth. However, older teeth aren’t automatically less healthy than younger teeth. Instead, they’re more likely to reveal their dentin, the layer beneath the enamel.
Likewise, anyone dealing with significant mouth trauma or injuries may see the color of their teeth change over time. Some of this change stems from a lack of blood flow to the teeth. If you’re dealing with a mouth injury, it’s in your best interest to contact a dentist as soon as possible.
How Can You Whiten Your Teeth?
All of these conditions may encourage someone to consider teeth whitening services. Fortunately, these services are as easy to access at home as they are in the dentist’s office. You can work with experienced professionals to whiten your teeth, or you can purchase a tooth-whitening kit from your local pharmacy.
Teeth whitening products break through the stains on your teeth through the use of products like carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide. Notably, teeth whitening products do not improve the health of your teeth, just the look of them.
How Are At-Home and Professional Whitening Services Different?
If you’re not sure whether you want to invest in at-home whitening services or professional whitening services, how can you determine which is better? Let’s break down some of the key differences between these procedures:
Time Commitment
Surprisingly, it often takes considerably less time to whiten your teeth professionally than personally. Dentists can achieve considerably more whiteness in as little as two hours than home whitening kits can over the course of several days. If you’re short on time and want whiter teeth, we recommend seeking out professional services.
Service Cost
Cost is the one downside of professional whitening services. Dental offices tend to charge up to $300 for whitening services, with those costs varying if someone has dental concerns a professional needs to address. Comparatively, at-home kits tend to cost between $50 and $100.
Is that reduction in cost worth it? People who have more time to invest in whitening their teeth may find the reduced cost appealing, especially if they don’t have oral health concerns they want to address.
Overall Whiteness
Unfortunately, the reduced cost of at-home teeth whitening kits tends to make itself known in the quality of bleach it provides. Professional whitening services tend to whiten hardier stains, whereas at-home kits may only slightly alter those stains’ colors.
Bagoff Dental Arts Specializes in Teeth Whitening Services for You
Professional teeth whitening and at-home teeth whitening both offer you the chance to improve the appearance of your smile. Is one really better than the other? At-home whitening tends to be more affordable than professional whitening. However, professional whitening services can look better and take less time.
If you have questions about teeth whitening services available in your area, let the professionals with Bagoff Dental Arts help you explore your options. You can call our team at (973) 325-9000 or use our contact form to learn more.
