Whitening is the treatment patients ask about most, and the one surrounded by the most bad
information. Here is what holds up clinically.
The active ingredient is the same everywhere
Almost every product that genuinely whitens teeth works through hydrogen peroxide or carbamide
peroxide. What changes between a supermarket strip and an in-clinic treatment is the
concentration, the contact time, and whether anyone is
supervising. That is the whole story — the rest is packaging.
What works
- In-clinic whitening. High concentration, gums protected, done in one visit.
The fastest route, and the safest for heavily stained teeth. - Custom take-home trays. Lower concentration over more days. Slower, and for
many patients the better result, because the tray is moulded to your teeth and the gel reaches
evenly. - Both together. A clinic session to do the heavy lifting, trays to maintain
it. This is what we recommend most often.
What damages enamel
The problem is rarely peroxide itself at supervised concentrations. It is everything else:
- Charcoal and “natural” abrasive pastes. These do not whiten. They scrub the
surface, and enamel does not grow back. Teeth end up looking yellower over time, because
the dentine underneath shows through a thinner surface. - One-size-fits-all trays. Gel leaks onto the gums and burns them.
- Whitening on untreated decay or exposed roots. Painful, and it will not work
evenly.
What whitening cannot do
It does not change the colour of crowns, veneers or fillings. If you whiten your natural teeth
and have a crown at the front, that crown will now be the wrong shade — which is why we plan the
order of treatment before starting, not after.
Before you start
Get a check-up first. Whitening an unhealthy mouth is uncomfortable at best and harmful at
worst. Once we know the teeth and gums are sound, we will tell you which of the three routes fits
your case, and roughly how many shades to realistically expect.