Best Professional Teeth Whiteners: Laser Teeth Whitening vs. Bleaching
If you want glowing teeth and are ready to go beyond what whitening kinds of toothpaste and over-the-counter strips can do, it’s time to try professional teeth whiteners. But when you go to the dentist, you must make some important choices.
Should you get your teeth whitened professionally with bleaching trays or pay for laser teeth whitening? It’s a big decision that will affect your wallet and your smile. Make sure you know the pros and cons of each method and then choose the one that works best for you and your budget.
What Happens When You Use Bleaching?
When a dentist whitens your teeth, they put a paste on them made of hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. This peroxide paste is put in bleaching trays, which then put the paste where you want it, on the enamel of your teeth.
Once the peroxide paste is in place, it releases molecules of oxygen that move into the stained parts of your tooth enamel and chemically break down the stains and spots.
Most of the time, your dentist will give you a bleaching tray that fits your teeth. You can wear it while you sleep or for 30 to 2 hours. Depending on how much bleaching your teeth need, you do this every day for a few days to a few weeks.
How Does Laser Whitening Work?
People often think that when you whiten your teeth with a laser, the lasers blast the dirt off your teeth. This science fiction idea isn’t true at all, though.
When you use bleaching trays, do you remember how peroxide paste breaks down stains on the enamel of your teeth? Even if you choose laser whitening, you still have to use bleaching trays. All the lasers do is heat the oxygen in the peroxide paste, which makes the discoloration break down faster.
The dentist uses either a carbon dioxide (CO2) or an argon laser on the bleaching trays to speed up the chemical reaction that the bleach has already started. Laser teeth whitening may be able to get rid of stains on your teeth in a series of 30-minute sessions, which are usually done once every 10 days or so. This is because it speeds up the bleaching process.
Some people choose laser whitening, so they don’t have to sleep with bleaching trays in their mouths. However, in some cases, dentists may add bleaching trays to laser whitening, which would take away this possible benefit.
Teeth Bleaching: Pros and Cons
Bleaching is the easier way for a dentist to whiten your teeth. Since both methods lead to the same result, you.Thinking about other things when deciding which one you like best would be best. Think about these pros and cons as you decide what to do.
Why Should You Bleach Your Teeth?
Because your dentist gives you bleaching trays made just for you, they fit your teeth perfectly, so the bleaching paste goes exactly where it needs to go.You don’t have to take time out of your day to bleach your teeth because you do it while you sleep. You can even do more than one thing while you sleep!
If you only use the stronger bleaching solution for 30 minutes or less, you may be less sensitive to it.Most people find it easy to wear bleaching trays because they are thin, clear, and don’t get in the way.Laser whitening is a lot more expensive than bleaching. The total cost is about 90% less than what you usually pay for laser teeth whitening.
The carbamide peroxide gel syringes needed for a year’s worth of bleaching maintenance is about $40, which is only 3% of the cost of laser whitening. Because bleaching trays can be used safely and successfully for two to five years, you don’t have to pay for new equipment.
Problems With Bleaching
Laser teeth whitening is faster than bleaching, but it takes longer to reach the level of whiteness you want with laser teeth whitening because you have to wait longer between treatments.Some people don’t feel comfortable using the bleaching trays or don’t want to wait a few weeks to see results.Laser whitening has both pros and cons.
Laser Teeth Whitening in Dental Clinic with UV lamp
Like bleaching, laser whitening has pros and cons that you should consider before making a decision.
Laser Whitening’s Pros
Most people only need two to four sessions of laser whitening to get their teeth white (though you may require more if your teeth are extremely discolored).
Each session doesn’t take more than 15 to 60 minutes.You may see results right away, which can be a good sign. Also, the results may be more noticeable right away than they are with bleaching trays.
If you find out that your teeth are sensitive to lasers, you can take comfort in the fact that your treatments will be done under the watchful eye of a doctor to minimize any possible bad reactions or pain.
What’s Bad About Laser Whitening
Sensitivity
Even though one of the best things about laser whitening is how fast it works, you must wait 10 to 14 days between sessions. This means that your treatment could take up to two months to finish.
For each treatment, you must take time out of your day to visit the dentist’s office. If you have a busy schedule or can’t get as much time off from work as you’d like, this could mean that you have to put off your treatments even longer.
Watch What You Eat
After getting your teeth whitened, you must watch what you eat for the first 48 hours, and some dentists may tell you to be careful for a full week. During this time, your teeth can get stained again if you eat colored foods like coffee, tea, wine, red meat, almost all fruits, tomato sauce, soy sauce, and chocolate. If you find it easy to eat only white foods, this may not be a problem. If not, you might drink everything through a straw or even put petroleum jelly on your teeth to protect them.
Most of the time, dentists use a peroxide mixture with 35–44 percent hydrogen peroxide, which is much stronger than the 10-percent solutions that the American Dental Association has approved for use in bleaching trays. Even though this concentration might not be dangerous, more research must be done.
Some people find out that the high concentration of peroxide used in laser whitening treatments makes their teeth sensitive, which could hurt the treatments. People with this sensitivity often feel like they are getting an electric shock in their teeth as each treatment ends.It hasn’t been ruled out that lasers could hurt the tooth pulp. Some dentists think lasers can damage the tooth’s enamel and weaken the tooth pulp, possibly for good.
You still have to use bleaching trays when you get your teeth whitened with a laser. Between laser treatments, your dentist may send you home with bleaching trays that don’t fit your mouth but that you must use every day with peroxide gel.
Cost
The main problem for most people is that laser teeth whitening costs a lot. Expect to pay at least $1,500 per year for the initial whitening and the annual maintenance needed to keep your teeth white. Since teeth whitening is a cosmetic procedure, dental insurance won’t cover it, so you’ll have to pay for it yourself.
Here’s the most important thing to remember as you choose between bleaching and laser whitening: Laser whitening is the same as bleaching but takes a little longer. The ADA has said that studies show that laser whitening is no better than bleaching in the long run.
Another thing to think about is that not everyone can whiten their teeth. Because of their genes, some people were born with darker teeth. All the whitening in the world might not make a big difference in these situations. Many people see a big change in their appearance after whitening their teeth, no matter what method they use. However, people who don’t know how their teeth will react to whitening may not want to spend much money on the process right away.
Final Words
If you’re like many people, the choice between bleaching and laser teeth whitening comes down to your budget. Laser teeth whitening is so expensive that it puts a strain on the wallets of many people. The other important factor is the pain that comes with laser teeth whitening or in-office teeth bleaching systems. When it comes to sensitive teeth, at-home whitening trays are much easier to deal with. Take the trays off, put some desensitizing paste, and put them back on the teeth.
