Four Good Reasons To Avoid ‘Off The Shelf’ Teeth Whitening Kits

…. and how you can benefit from a professional whitening treatment

At The Dental Centre Bedford, one of our most popular cosmetic dental procedures is teeth whitening.

A combination of reasonable cost and fast and effective results means that patients can significantly improve the way that their teeth look without breaking the bank.

For those on a tight budget, it can be tempting to try to find a cheaper way of whitening teeth. We have discussed, in previous blogs, why you should avoid some of the tips found on the internet (brief reminder – they can seriously harm your teeth!), but what about the teeth whitening kits that can be found in many chemists these days. Surely these work and are safe?

Below, our Bedford dentists offer four reasons why some of these products may not deliver quite what you expect:

You may well be disappointed with the results

Unless you have very low expectations in the first instance, you are unlikely to be completely satisfied with the level of whiteness achieved. Because whitening your teeth in this way is unsupervised by a professional, the level of the whitening agent allowed is significantly less than in the customised home teeth whitening that we provide at The Dental Centre Bedford. Inevitably then, this will produce inferior results.

You miss the bigger picture

By this, we mean that when you have a whitening treatment at our practice, your teeth and gums will first be checked for signs of decay and other dental problems. These will then be treated before the whitening process starts. By doing this on your own, at home, you may even cause further harm or discomfort if you attempt to whiten teeth which are already compromised.

Possible irritation of gums and lips

Because the kits that are bought off the shelf are standardised products, the trays that hold the whitening agent, which is a form of bleach, will almost certainly not fit as securely as one that has been made to your own specifications. This can cause leakage of the bleaching agent onto your gums and lips, potentially causing irritation.

Longer term damage?

Without professional advice and supervision, it is possible that you may cause long term damage to your teeth if you get DIY treatments wrong. In our opinion, it simply isn’t worth the risk, and for a little more money, you could have your teeth whitened both safely and with better results, using one of our personalised treatments.

To help you spread the cost, you may also wish to check-out one of our payment plans. To arrange a consultation with one of our friendly and helpful dentists, please call The Dental Centre Bedford on 01234 819868.