Regain a white, confident smile.

When you picture your ideal smile, what do you see? It’s likely that one of the main characteristics of your ideal smile is a bright, white shade. You’re not alone; the ideal of a white smile is incredibly common, permeating everything from our movies to our social media newsfeeds. Unfortunately, our teeth collect stains over time from the food and drinks we consume, habits we engage in like smoking, or even aging, which causes them to become more yellow than white.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to whiten your smile and regain your confidence in it, from professional whitening treatments to over-the-counter products. Over-the-counter whitening treatments are often looked at as a more budget-friendly, convenient way to whiten your teeth at home, but professional whitening treatments like the ones we perform in our Bee Cave and Lakeway, Texas, dental offices have several benefits that are simply unmatched. Here are 5 benefits you can only get from in-office professional whitening treatments.

1. Professional whitening treatments get your teeth whiter in less time.

When you get an in-office whitening treatment, the whitening agent that goes on your teeth is much stronger than anything you can get in the store. This allows in-office whitening treatments to go deeper, removing more than just surface stains. While over-the-counter products will whiten your teeth with proper use over time, they simply can’t provide the level of whitening or the immediate results you’ll get from treatments at our office. Over-the-counter products generally take repeated applications of whitening strips to get and maintain visible results, but professional whitening treatments produce a stunning difference in a fraction of the time. They can whiten your teeth by up to 10 shades in about an hour! We even offer a Whitening for Life program, which you can ask our staff about when you call to schedule a consultation.

2. They achieve more even results.

Over-the-counter whitening treatments take a one-size-fits-all approach, often involving standard strips that are meant to mold and fit over your teeth. Unfortunately, this often means that the strips don’t fit the shape of your teeth perfectly. This can result in parts of your teeth not getting whitened as well or at all, especially in the creases. In contrast, professional whitening treatments use a dental tray that’s custom-made for you and filled with a whitening gel, ensuring that every nook and cranny of your smile is reached by the whitening gel. As a result, professional whitening treatments produce more even results than over-the-counter treatments.

3. They won’t irritate your gums.

Another consequence of ill-fitting, over-the-counter-whitening strips is that they tend to overlap your gums, allowing the whitening agent, often hydrogen peroxide, to come into contact with them. This can irritate your gums, making them sore or inflamed for a few days after you use the whitening strips. Similarly, charcoal toothpaste or baking soda, which are other popular at-home whitening techniques, are often abrasive and can damage or irritate your gums. In-office treatments prevent this by using a customized dental tray, which is sculpted to fit around your gums and protect them from coming in contact with the whitening gel.

4. They’re customizable to give you the results you want.

It’s not just the dental trays themselves that are customizable during an in-office professional whitening treatment—your entire treatment is! You can decide how white you want your teeth to become, and Dr. Tomasik or Dr. Clor will adjust your treatment to help you reach that goal. This way, you won’t get your teeth unrealistically white or end up with teeth that don’t look nearly as white as you’d hoped. When you use over-the-counter whitening treatments, however, you simply follow the directions on the box. It may take multiple uses of an over-the-counter product to make a significant difference in the shade of your teeth, but using the treatment too long or too often can cause tooth sensitivity or harm the health of your teeth and gums. Receiving your treatment from Dr. Tomasik or Dr. Clor helps you abandon the guesswork and reliably meet your smile goals.

5. Professional whitening treatments are better for your teeth.

Whitening strips are generally harmless if they’re used properly, but if you keep them on for too long or use them too often, they can erode your enamel over time. Solutions like charcoal toothpaste/powder and baking soda can also be incredibly harmful to your teeth, as they’re often deceptively abrasive and will wear your enamel away over time.

This is actually one reason why products like this seem to whiten your teeth at first; they’re removing surface stains along with a small layer of enamel. Similarly, at-home tooth whitening remedies that involve acidic ingredients, like lemon juice, also erode your enamel instead of removing stains without harm. Over time, this enamel erosion can cause tooth sensitivity and will actually make your teeth appear more yellow as more of the dentin beneath your enamel begins to show through.

Take advantage of your dentist’s in-office whitening treatments.

Not all over-the-counter whitening treatments are bad for your teeth if they’re used correctly, but they can’t provide the same quality or level of whitening as the treatments performed in our dentist office. In-office professional whitening treatments give you truly customized, safe, predictable, and effective results. If you’re interested in learning more about how whitening treatments can restore your confidence in your smile, feel free to call our office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Tomasik or Dr. Clor at any time.