While both of these teeth bleaching systems can offer similar whitening results there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to each of them. Our pages should be able to help you determine which bleaching method seems a best fit for you. Additionally, our whitening systems review describes the various steps your dentist takes when performing professional in-office teeth whitening treatments. The rational regarding why (or why not) the use of a bleaching light or laser should be incorporated into the whitening process. And also the costs, whitening results, and common side effects associated with this procedure. Our professional teeth whitening systems review outlines some of the specific whitening products your dentist has to choose from including: Zoom! ®, Opalescence ®, BriteSmile ®, LaserSmile ™, Rembrandt ®, LumaArch ™, and Niveous ™.

Which is best, professional teeth whitening treatments (laser whitening) performed by your dentist or using an at-home product?

No doubt the number one question people reading our pages will have is: Which is best, having professional teeth whitening treatments performed by your dentist or using an at-home whitener? While the information found on our pages can help you to arrive at an answer we'd first like to say that using the word "best" really is not the best way to phrase this question. Here's why...

Peroxide-based teeth whitening is generally considered to be a function of two factors:
- The concentration of peroxide in the whitener.
- The amount of time this whitener is in contact with the surface of the user's teeth.
It's as simple as that. For teeth to whiten they need to be exposed to an appropriate teeth whitener (in an appropriate manner) for an appropriate amount of time.

Comparing professional teeth bleaching with at-home teeth whitening treatments.

Professional teeth whitening is a technique where the whitener is applied by your dentist in their dental office. In contrast, with at-home teeth whitening the dental patient has the bleaching materials with them at home and performs their bleaching treatments on their own, unsupervised.

At-home teeth bleaching typically requires performing whitening treatments each day over a series of weeks. In comparison the number of professional teeth bleaching treatments that are needed are typically much fewer in number, possibly even as few as one. It has been suggested that, as a ballpark estimate, one hour of in-office whitening treatment can produce the same whitening effect as one to two weeks of at-home tray-based whitening.

The teeth whitening system that is best for you can depend on factors such as: available time, your temperament, and how much money you have to spend.
Here are some characteristics of professional and at-home teeth whitening systems...

Some advantages and disadvantages of at-home teeth whitening:
-The dental patient must be capable of complying with the whitening system's technique and instructions.
-The person must have the time and inclination to perform the whitening treatments.
-It can take some weeks or even months before the final results are seen with at-home systems.
- At-home teeth whitening usually costs less than professional teeth bleaching treatments.

Some advantages and disadvantages of professional teeth whitening:
-The whitening effect is seen immediately.
-The whitening is accomplished in just a few appointments (possibly even just one).
-Professional teeth whitening usually costs more than using at-home teeth whitening products.

So what's the best teeth whitening system for you?
Which method seems to be the best fit with your lifestyle? Are you long on time and short on money. If so it sounds like at-home teeth whitening might be the best choice.

Do you have a big event coming up soon that you want to transform your smile for or maybe you just don't think you can incorporate do-it-yourself whitening treatments into your busy lifestyle? If this is the case then it seems that professional treatments performed by your dentist might be the best solution.