Over-the-counter Teeth Whitening Kits

A brighter smile makes the difference for a beautiful smile. In an ideal world, routine brushing and cleaning would keep your teeth nice and white between your regular dental appointments. But with the variety of food and beverages you eat and drink, can stain your teeth. These days many people are looking for easy and cheap ways to get the perfect smile. There are now teeth whitening kits that are sold at your local drug stores to help you whiten your teeth. It is best to have a routine exam and cleaning at your dental office and consulting your dentist before starting an at-home whitening kit. Teeth whitening should really only be done on healthy teeth and gums. There are a couple of kits on the market, so it is a good idea to shop around and read the instructions for use.

Main Active Ingredient

A lot of these teeth whitening kits have an ingredient known as peroxide as the main active ingredient to help with the whitening. Peroxide is also used in dental offices for teeth whitening; however, the peroxide concentration in the over-the-counter kits have a lower concentration.

How Long to Use

The over-the-counter teeth whitening kits are recommended to use for around seven to ten days to begin. To maintain the bright white smile, it is suggested to use about once every other week or so. Using more often than the recommended duration and intervals of each individual kit can potentially damage the enamel on your teeth.

List of Over-the-counter Teeth Whitening Kits

1. Crest 3D White Whitestrips: This kit contains whitening strips that include hydrogen peroxide to help remove stains on teeth. The whitening strips work well for individuals who have naturally whiter teeth or slightly discolored teeth.
2. Plus White 5 Minute Dental Whitening Kit: This kit comes with a whitening tray for your teeth and cause very little teeth sensitivity after use. It’s also cheaper than the whitening strips.
3. Dr. Collins All White 22 Percent Bleaching System: The kit also contains a tray. But this kit is unique, since you can boil the tray and create a custom tray that fits your teeth and mouth comfortably to help eliminate whitening gel from seeping out.
4. Walgreens Extreme Whitening Wraps: This kit is ideal if you have issues with trays and don’t like strips. These whitening wraps fit well around teeth to prolong the contact of the whitening agent with the teeth.
5. Hagar Pharma Mira White Oxygen Tooth Whitening Pen: This kit contains a pen that you can use to whiten your teeth. Pens may be harder to use, since you will have to keep your mouth open with your lips away from your teeth long enough for the whitening agent to work.
6. CVS Platinum Whitening Kit: This kit contains 25%, which is the higher allowable range of carbamide peroxide, to better whiten teeth. Since it contains a higher peroxide concentration, it has a higher chance of causing teeth sensitivity. The kit should not be used longer than the recommended timeframe in the instructions.

If you have any questions on at-home whitening kits, give our dental team at California Dental Group a call. If you’d like to see if having your teeth whiten at the dental office is a better option for you, let us help you! Give us a call at (800) 407-0161 today!