1. In Los Angeles shopping malls, there are spaces rented by people selling leather goods, jewelry and also teeth whitening! These whitening kiosks have no professional supervision. They are marketing bleach for your teeth that is 18% in concentration! This is pretty powerful bleach, like your dentist uses! You do not have trays to hold the bleach that are made for your mouth. The chances of having your gums fried are good and there is no one to check you to see how things are going with the procedure. There is enough sensitivity with patients that have it done in a dental office without taking the risk of burned soft tissue and teeth that will zing for a year!
2. True but be very careful. That is like saying "I do not need a dermatologist to lighten the spots on my face. I can do it myself!"
3. True. I would want a dentist to choose the shade so if i had bondings or crowns, the shade of whitening would blend with my teeth. Crown and bonded or white fillings do not absorb the bleach.
4. Cosmetic teeth whitening OTC is safe. The concentration of bleach is safe. High concentration of bleach done by someone other than a dentist or his assistant is NOT safe. Save your money, you have one set of teeth and a mouth. Take good care of them!
