Laser teeth whitening may sound intimidating, but in practice it's a relatively straightforward dental treatment.
The main difference between laser teeth whitening and other professional teeth whitening procedures is that a laser is used to speed up the reaction of the high concentration hydrogen peroxide bleaching gel.
This laser causes no pain and is not used by your dentist to burn away your teeth stains. In fact, other teeth whitening procedures use high energy lamps to "photo-activate" the whitener and increase the efficiency of the whitening process. No clear clinical data is available (or that we could find!) that suggests whether one light activation method is superior to another.
Laser teeth whitening procedure
Laser procedures like LaserSmile involve the application of a hydrogen peroxide-based tooth gel that is 35% hydrogen peroxide with pH of 4.0. As with other teeth-whitening procedures, precautions are taken with LaserSmile to protect your gums and soft tissues from the acidic gels. Once the gel is in place, the laser activates the gel. Sessions last under 10 minutes, and are divided into three individual applications for a total time of less than 30 minutes. At-home tray teeth whitening treatments are optional after the completion of this procedure. Other teeth whitening systems require more time, such as Zoom, but may give you more shades of whitening.
Which is better, laser teeth whitening or tray teeth whitening at home?
Laser teeth whitening has the advantage of speed and convenience. You can get a white smile faster and with less impact on your lifestyle than trays. However, laser teeth whitening is more expensive (as much as $500) and is not permanent. Your teeth will stain again. Tray teeth whiteners allow you to repeatedly remove stains as they return. Note that repeated self-administered teeth whitening exposes you to risk of damaging your gums and soft mouth tissue, so we suggest you review your teeth whitening habits with your dentist.
In both cases, fillings and other dental restorations such as composite fillings and veneers, bonding, porcelain crowns or veneers will not whiten at all or be even with your natural teeth during this procedure. Patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding should be excluded from whitening procedures that involve bleaching.
If you have substantial staining and slight gaps, you may want to consider porcelain veneers.