I was thinking of buying a Premium Home Whitening Kit that I saw an advertisement for because it is about $50 less than my dentist charges for teeth whitening. $50 is $50. However, my sister says that the kits are a waste of money. Do you know about about this product?
Belinda
Dear Belinda,
Looking at this kit, I would say it has one thing in the pro column and another in the con column. I’ll tell you about both and you can decide if it is worth the money.
First, the whitening ingredient it uses is made of 35% carbamide peroxide. This is similar to what a dentist would use so I would count that in the pro column. What bothers me is the trays that you will be provided with to use the whitening gel. Their tray is not going to fit well, which means there will be leakage of the gel escaping the tray. This means you are not getting as much of the whitening effect.
You’ll also have saliva getting into the tray, which will dilute the gel that has actually remained in place. Both of these will have the affect of you needing to buy several kits in order to get the same amount of whitening strength that you would get with your dentist. I think in the long run, you will end up spending more than you would have if you just had it done by a dentist.
When you have professional teeth whitening done and a dentist makes your trays, they custom fit it to your bite, ensuring that your whitening gel stays in the tray and your saliva stays out.
Bottom line: It will whiten your teeth but not as efficiently as your dentist will.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington, KY Dentist Dr. James E. Williams.