The Hirshberg Dental Group: Boston and Wellesley Massachusetts

Bleaching has become very popular over the past 15 years and has proven to be a safe and effective process for whitening your teeth.

bleaching There are three commonly used techniques to achieve the same result:

At-home bleaching with professionally made custom trays

Power bleaching done by the dentist in one visit

At-home bleaching with do-it-yourself Crest Bleaching Strips

We have gotten the best results with "at-home bleaching." For a cost of $400, a dramatic whitening of the teeth is predictable with the smallest incidence of sensitivity. One of its advantages is that the trays are reusable, so that you can "touch up" your whitened teeth every six months with only $10-25 of the bleaching gel.

Power bleaching is also effective, but expensive, and frequently sensitizes the teeth (temporarily). The major advantage is the immediate result; the major disadvantage is the large expense over time as you return to have the process repeated. About 50% of our patients who have purchased the Crest Strips have successfully bleached their teeth. The major complaints have been with sensitive teeth and gums, as well as a difficulty with keeping the strips in place. The extremely low cost ($50 or less) is very attractive.