Home Teeth Whitening vs. Dentist Whitening: Why Teeth Whitening Is Different From Whitening

Similarities and Differences Between Teeth Whitening and Bleaching

To the layman, the terms whitening and whitening sound as if there were no major differences in application apart from language. It is not so. The basic idea is the same and there are overlaps, but the paths to a dream smile are still different.

Both methods are cosmetic treatments. The health insurance companies therefore do not cover the costs of either the whitening or the bleaching. The bleaching at the dentist can amount to up to 850 euros per appointment, depending on the preparation effort, material consumption and treatment time. For teeth whitening at home, you pay 90 to 210 euros once and have ongoing material costs depending on the frequency of use.

Both methods also use peroxides as active ingredients. The key difference, however, lies in the concentration. While products for use at home (tooth whitening) may contain a maximum of 0,1 percent hydrogen peroxide, the dentist uses 15 to 35 percent active ingredient paste.

In bleaching, the active ingredient paste contains 15 to 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, in teeth whitening only 0,1 percent. This is the reason why teeth whitening should only be repeated every 2 to 3 years, but home use with teeth whitening systems is unlimited.

Customer story: Switching from bleaching at the dentist to teeth whitening at home

At this point we share a story from a customer. She discovered teeth whitening in 2018 after attending several bleaching appointments with her dentist.

After an extensive test phase of the OnlySmile® tooth whitening system, she reports that she has fewer problems with sensitive teeth and above all appreciates the flexibility that allows her to use it at home. She usually uses the teeth whitening as needed every 3 to 4 weeks and brushes her teeth with the teeth whitening powder in preparation.

It took her 3 applications to see the first result. But now she is so satisfied with her teeth that she no longer goes to bleach.

Summary

With a whitening set for home applications, the treatment frequency can be controlled independently. In contrast to bleaching, there is also no maximum number of applications here. The method is also more cost-effective and time-saving and, overall, less risky. However, results may only be visible after several applications. With bleaching, you will usually see a clear whitening of the teeth after the first application.

To try out teeth whitening yourself, we recommend our OnlySmile® teeth whitening set. Everything you need for the application is in here and you can start right away!

Cosmetic teeth whitening with OnlySmile® is easy, safe and painless.

Author: Beatrix Eckhard (blogguru.de)
Photo: shutterstock - Dean Drobot, OnlySmile