A beautiful, pearly white smile is a definite asset. But displaying shiny, white teeth can be a challenge particularly as you grow older. With aging, tooth enamel tends to thin and become more prone to staining from food and drink. This allows the inner dentin to show through the enamel which results in a yellow discoloration to the teeth. You may have tried the drugstore tooth whitening kits without getting the results you want. At this point, should you consider office dental bleaching?

Office dental bleaching generally takes about an hour and involves the use of a hydrogen peroxide lightening agent with or without the help of a laser. If you choose the laser option for tooth whitening, you're going to spend more money but you may also get better results. Laser treatments can cost over $1,000 and many people don't get the dramatic results they were anticipating for the money, although most get some lightening of the tooth surface if they are good candidates for the bleaching process to begin with.

How do you know if bleaching will give you the results you want? One way to determine whether you're a good candidate for office dental bleaching is to do the white paper test. Hold a sheet of white paper up to your teeth while you're looking in the mirror. If your teeth appear yellow next to the paper, your teeth will probably respond well to the in office dental bleaching and you'll be able to lighten your teeth at least several shades. If they appear gray, there's good chance that bleaching won't affect your tooth color and you'd be wasting your money on dental bleaching. If your teeth appear gray with the white paper test, you can talk to your dentist about other potential options such as veneers to achieve white teeth.

Even if you're a good candidate for office dental bleaching based on the white paper test, it's probably best to try the drugstore tooth whitening systems before handing over a large sum of money for office dental bleaching. Many good tooth bleaching candidates achieve at least some lightening of their tooth color from these inexpensive tooth whitening kits, particularly if used repeatedly. You should avoid them if you have receding gums, gum disease, or unusually sensitive teeth as the bleaching chemicals can aggravate preexisting tooth sensitivity.

Office dental bleaching can be an effective means of whitening discolored or stained teeth, although it can be an expensive proposition for those on a fixed budget. Before spending your hard earned money on in office dental whitening, be sure you're a good candidate by the white paper test and that you weren't able to achieve acceptable results with drugstore tooth whitening kits.