“How do dentists professionally whiten teeth?”

There are multiple options utilizing lasers or lights. Just depends on what that office uses.

We dentists have a couple different options depending on patient goals. All start, and this is paramount, with a good oral exam to identify or rule out presence of disease (tooth decay, gum disease). Both are important to identify and treat prior to any bleaching plan. A thorough "cleaning is the next step to remove any external stains and be able to get a good evaluation of needs. Now you can start either with an in-office high strength bleach 1-hour session with or without a high intensity light. Second choice would be to start professional-strength home sessions after taking impressions and fabricating custom bleach trays. The in-office technique is usually followed with custom tray home sessions as well. Both are followed with in-office post-op checks for progress.

Dear Reader,

When I had my teeth whitened, I used a custom home and take-home whitening material. Whitening systems in stores don't have the concentration of professional systems. I also didn't want to sit around for 45 minutes to an hour for "power bleaching." With take-home whitening, it was time efficient and I could control the degree of whitening. Check with your dentist to discuss the best option for you.

Hope this helps,

Steven Chamish, DDS

In several different ways:

1 using laser or some type of light activated material
Or
2 using a chemically activated material.

The zoom lights whiten teeth more initially, but this is because the teeth are desiccated (dried up) and that will temporarily lighten teeth in and of itself. But after 30 days, there is no difference between light or chemically activated. Laser is unnecessary and too expensive. Dentists take impressions and make custom fitted trays usually for chemically activated whitening.

They use a concentrated solution of carbamide peroxide and sometimes use uv light to accelerate the affects

There are different ways. Take home trays and/or in office whitening. There are a few different in office systems using different products and some may use a light to activate it.