Professional Teeth Whitening vs Over the Counter

teeth whitening

There may have been a time in your life, just recently even, that you felt less confident about your teeth. This may have even resulted in a hit to your self-esteem or a drop-in self-confidence. Having white teeth makes your mouth look healthier, feel better, and can even boost your mood. When considering whether an over the counter tooth whitening kit or seeing a dentist in Fairbanks for professional whitening is better, think about these important three factors to help make your decision.  

Cost

Probably the main reason that most people who choose to buy teeth whitening kits to do at home has to do with the cost. It may indeed be cheaper to buy the teeth whitening kits at the store and bring it home to do it, but keep in mind this token phrase you’ve heard before: you get what you pay for.

Although the investment upfront for having Fairbanks dentists do the work of whitening your teeth is likely to be more than buying a kit at the store, you may like the result better. And when you weigh the cost of having a kit custom fit to your mouth and getting professional advice on using it to the cost of getting a whitening kit from the store and trying to figure out on your own how to best use it, the choice may be pretty clear after all.

teeth

Time

Another reason that people choose to do teeth whitening kits at home instead of seeing an experienced dentist for the service is because of time. One of the benefits of doing a kit at home is that you can do it on your own time without having to carve time out of your schedule to see the dentist. However, you should be seeing the dentist regularly anyway, and they may be able to fit in your teeth whitening as part of your regularly scheduled exam and cleaning.

Products Used

You might research it quite a bit and find that many of the products you find at the store to whiten your teeth have the same ingredients as the products that your dentist would use. The difference is that the dentist will use a higher concentration of these products and has better tools and resources to do a better job than what you can pick up for a few dollars at the store.

Trying to make a decision about how to achieve whiter teeth doesn’t have to feel like you’re pulling teeth. Make sure you weigh all of your different options, which include both over the counter kits that you can buy at most grocery and drug stores or seeing a professional External link opens in new tab or windowFairbanks dentist.