To successfully whiten your teeth, you need to bleach them to a certain level. While there are over-the-counter methods that many of our patients turn to when they want to save money, this actually costs more in the long run. Why? Because these cheap OTC products are not custom formulated to your teeth. It’s really hard to properly bleach with these products because they don’t take into account any past dental work or current sensitivities you have as our patient and they usually only last a few weeks, whereas in-office teeth whitening at West Columbia Dental lasts far longer and is customized to be as comfortable for you as possible.
If you use a store-bought whitening product, chances are that it will cause a lot more sensitivity than you had before. If, on the other hand, you have had no prior dental work done and don’t suffer from sensitive teeth, then an OTC teeth whitening product will still only last a short time.
What’s more, over-the-counter teeth whitening products allow plenty of room for user error. It can be tricky to use these products on your own teeth, and if you make a mistake in the application and aren’t happy with the results, then you’ll have to buy more product–further putting your teeth at risk of sensitivity and spending money you shouldn’t have to.