Has Over-the-Counter Teeth Whitening Demand Gone Up or Down? (Video)

Teeth whitening has gone mainstream, with lots of different tooth whiteners now available over the counter.

But tooth whitening from a dentist is still the quickest and most effective way to quickly get whiter teeth.

“A lot of patients have whitened their teeth. It seems that the ones who wanted whiter teeth have already done it,” said an Oklahoma dentist.

“With the cost of in-office whitening treatments going down, we have seen the demand for over-the-counter whiteners decrease,” said a Wisconsin dentist.

We conducted a survey asking dentists about the popularity of over-the-counter tooth whitening methods.

h3<>Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey report on whether demand for at-home whiteners gone up or down.

Dentists are pretty evenly split. In this survey, 43% said demand has increased, while 35% feel it’s decreased, and 22% say demand has held steady.

Some of these tooth whiteners can have far higher levels of peroxide than they’re supposed to. Do dentist have patients who have damaged their teeth with OTC whitening methods?

Most haven’t but, 18% have noted issues here and there.

At-home teeth bleaching can be a mixed bag for dentists. It raises the overall profile of tooth whitening, but it leaves patients with a lot of options outside of the dentist’s office.

“White Strips have had a significant impact on our office’s billings for cosmetic procedures. Revenues are down as patients use these instead of chair-side and tray whitening,” said a Georgia dentist.

“At-home whiteners are the best place for patients to start if they have had a dental exam to rule out contraindications to whitening,” said a New York dentist.

“With over-the-counter products, patients can run the risk of over-whitening their teeth and making them susceptible to brittleness and sensitivity, which can lead to bigger issues down the road,” said a general dentist.

“We have had many patients complain that over-the-counter whiteners did not whiten their teeth enough or did not whiten interproximally very well. Take-home professional whitening with trays is one of the best available because we can whiten the whole tooth on all surfaces to get the tooth the whitest in can be,” said an Ohio prosthodontist.

Patients in the US these days are very interested in having whiter teeth.

While they have plenty of options they can buy at the grocery store or pharmacy, none of these are as safe or effective as in-office whitening.