In-office tooth whitening is, with little questions, the most effective and quickest form of tooth whitening available to the general public.  In-office whitening usually involves applying hydrogen peroxide gel to the teeth, and then increasing their effects by activating them with light and/or lasers.

PearlinBrite Laser whitening, developed by Dr. Jan Linhart, DDS, uses different percentage Hydrogen Peroxide gels, specially formulated by our own chemist, to obtain the maximum effect.  Freshness and quality of the gel is extremely important to achieve maximum whitening effect.  After the gel is applied, it is activated by two different lasers in order to increase oxidation.  This procedure was created by Dr. Linhart, from his 30 years of experience in the dental profession.

Other in-office whitening systems, such as Zoom(R) and BriteSmile(R), also use gels and lights in the dental office to achieve whitening.

In-office tooth whitening usually takes between 1-3 hours, and can significantly increase the brightness and whiteness of your teeth. See www.drlinhart.com/pearlinbrite.html for more info.

Usually, in-office whitening is followed by at home gel applications in custom trays, which is used to touch-up and enhance the effects of the in-office system.

Our next post will talk about these at-home systems, and talk about the negative effects whitening may have.

Leave any questions or comments in the comments section, or e-mail them in to Zachary@drlinhart.com.

You see and hear about tooth whitening everywhere, in the paper, magazines, on the radio, and on TV.  Laser whitening, light activated whitening, take home whitening kits, whitening strips, whitening toothpastes, are all different ways that you can whiten your teeth.  But, there are significant differences between the different methods, and different end results.  Here I will break them down one by one, in a 4 part series, so that you can choose which is best for you.

First, we need a bit of background though.  There are two main types of tooth whitening gels that are used in a variety of the whitening techniques.  They are Hydrogen Peroxide and Carbamide peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is generally used for short applications, such as a 1 hour session, and comes in ranges from 5%-20% (at home) and 20%-50% (in office) gels.  Carbamide peroxide, similarly, comes in a range of strengths for different uses, but tends to be used for longer periods, like overnight use, as it breaks down to form hydrogen peroxide.

This 4 part series, over the next week or so, will be on these topics:

1) In-office professional tooth whitening (PearlinBrite Laser Whitening, Zoom, BriteSmile, etc)

2) At-home gels (carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide with custom trays)

3) At-home OTC products (White strips, prefab trays, etc)

4) Whitening toothpastes (PearlinBrite, Crest, Colgate)

Stay tuned for part 1 in the next few days!