What’s the best way to whiten your teeth?
Who doesn’t want to have a bright white smile? This blog post will break down the main ways you can whiten your teeth safely and what the best, fastest and cheapest options are.
For the best long-term results
Professional home whitening is by far the best way to whiten your teeth. You’ll spend around 2-4 weeks wearing whitening trays with special prescription only gels at night whilst you sleep. The change in colour is gradual and once you get to the level you’re happy with you can stop.
The results from home teeth whitening will last years and to maintain the colour of your teeth, all you need to do is see a hygienist every 6 months for general cleaning and do some top-up whitening for a couple of days straight after.
Typical costs for home whitening by a dentist range from £350 - £550.
The cheapest way to whiten your teeth
There are many over the counter products that you can buy yourself, from whitening toothpaste to home whitening gel kits.
Whitening toothpaste won’t change the colour of your teeth but can be useful to get rid of light surface staining from foods, tea and coffee.
Over the counter whitening kits (such as Hi-Smile, a popular product advertised on Instagram) don’t contain enough peroxide gel so they won’t change the colour of your teeth much either, however, they will make your teeth look whiter for a short period of time by dehydrating your teeth.
These kits are much cheaper than professional whitening (starting at around £50) but you will need to use them almost every week to maintain a white smile.
The quickest way to whiten your teeth
You can whiten your teeth instantly at a dental practice that carries out in-surgery whitening. This involves sitting in the dental chair with stronger gel around your teeth and a light fixed into place to activate the gel.
In-surgery treatment usually lasts 1 hour and rapidly whitens your teeth.
The main issue with this method is that your teeth can fade back very quickly so you will want to supplement the treatment with some home whitening anyway.
In-surgery whitening is also the most expensive option with prices starting at £750.
Professional home whitening is the winner
So, the best way to whiten your teeth is to do it at home over 2-4 weeks with some prescription gel from your dentist. If you’ve got an event coming up next week and you’ve left it too late then in-surgery whitening will be the best choice.
Trying out cheaper pastes and gels will be cheaper in the short term but you won’t see a big difference in the colour of your teeth. If you do it is unlikely to last a long time.
Chat to us
If you have any questions about teeth whitening, chat to now of our dentists now, it’s completely free and we can help you understand how whitening works and where the best places are to have it done.
