Have you read how the practice of using leaches for medical purposes is returning to legitimate use? Overnight whitening is similar with the exception of its poor prospect for a return to usefulness.

The overnight whitening was introduced in 1989. The idea was to load-up a custom-fit mouthpiece with low concentration carbamide peroxide whitening gel and wear it all night. It would whiten teeth, but it took a long time, had a high rate of pulpal sensitivity, and would sometimes give people a scratchy throat from swallowing the gel in their sleep.

Then dentistry learned much more about the science of whitening. In 1997, a well respected independent research laboratory (Clinical Research Associates) released a study that showed the majority of active ingredient in the whitening material was blown-off in the first hour. Other sources summarized that the high occurrence of sensitivity was due to the dehydrating effect of the gel and treatments. In short, wearing a whitening tray all night long did very little whitening and a great deal of dehydrating.

Today, a different approach is used: high concentration whitening at-home using 30% carbamide peroxide and short wear time - just 20-30 minute treatments. This strategy does the most amount of whitening while the mouthpiece is in and then allows the teeth to be quickly rehydrated naturally. The result is a much lower incidence of pulpal sensitivity, fast complete whitening, and much happier patients.

Special Delivery

Your dentist doesn’t want to make a mess in your purse or on your bathroom counter. Whitening gel other dentists offer is delivered in syringes that once assembled may continue to ooze – which is very messy. Your dentist wouldn’t let that happen. Unlike other whitening syringes, the Life-Like applicator:

• Opens and closes the flow by simply twisting the cap
• Requires no assembly
• Has a built-in, fine-control tip that makes it easy to control the placement
• Does not continue to ooze whitening material after first use
• Is not a syringe that can take a needle
• Is reusable for hobbies or as a handy water pistol

If you’ve had a friend try one of those whitening centers that use the lights, you’ve probably already heard that it can be painful and more expensive. The reason - the combination of lamps and super high oncentration hydrogen peroxide flirts with serious dental damage.

There were multiple studies back in 1986 that put a red flag on the use of 35% H2O2 and heat. As the nationally recognized clinician William Strupp, DDS, puts it, "The risk of pulpal damage just isn’t worth it."

Despite claims of substantial shade changes, many of the whitening centers are now offering at-home kits to complete the whitening. It is a matter of economics. There is only so much whitening that can be done in a single visit; chair time is expensive, and someone has to pay for that - you.

With Life-Like At-Home 30% Fast Whitening, it is hard to justify the risk, cost, and fuss of whitening centers. When you can safely complete your whitening in just 7 to 10 days with two short 20-30 minute treatments a day, other options just don’t add up.