 Hello everybody, Andrew Maeski here. I am a registered dental hygienist who has been working for about 14 years now But I now have my own dental hygiene practice where I do teeth cleaning and teeth whitening So I am going to be talking to you guys about the more commonly asked questions about teeth whitening because spring is now here I find a lot more people are starting to ask about teeth whitening because they're either planning to go on a trip They're they're getting married. They are going to a wedding or they just simply want to Refresh their look overall for the spring time spring summer time And ask anybody we all would probably say that we want whiter teeth Nobody ever says that they don't want whiter teeth. We all do so the first commonly asked question is how much does whitening cost? So with my with my own business I I do charge $200 and that includes full whitening meaning you see Results right away. It takes about one hour. That's it plus I give you a tray and a whitening syringe to take home to boost the results about a week later because It's kind of like your hair, you know You can do it it looks awesome, but then it does tend to fade over time But with the systems that I use it's a little bit different I use a mix of carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide So that helps to make the teeth whiter But also helps it to last and then the booster helps it to last even more So I do something a little bit different. That's a relatively new New thing, but it does It does work now typically at dental offices and I know this because I still work at two of them Part time they charge about $300 to $500. Yes, there is a big difference Depending on what system they use So I use the same system I take it a step further to give you guys a booster that is included for only $150 so that's pretty good, right? Right? I would say so So but that's how much things typically cost and I tell patients You can get those crest um, the white strips package for 60 to 70 dollars depending on the package you buy Doesn't it make more sense to spend a little bit more have your teeth whittened by a dental professional Who knows what she's doing and can make sure that you are happy with your new shade So spend a little bit more and get so much more, right? So that's a very common question The next question is well, how does the whitening work? So there are different systems We call the first system in office whitening. So that just means that a dental Hygienist or the dentist depending on the the office does the whitening in their chair And it takes about one hour to an hour and a half depending on the system that they use and then You will see your teeth a lot lighter after that like right away But there's another another option where you can save some money typically and that is The booster that I was telling you about so the take home option We like to call it so so there's the one the in office option and two the take home option So the take home option is where we would give you a tray or trays for the top and the bottom The booster that I have it actually gives you one tray That will fit in the top and the bottom the same time So less time less it's just a lot nicer in my opinion than having to put in two trays, but anyways But that's the take home option where we would give you The whitening syringe to take home and do that in your own trays at home So you would typically wear the trays for about a half an hour to an to an hour every single night For a week to two weeks depending on how light you want your shade to go So that's another question is what are the different options? Typically that take home option is a lot less expensive because you're not taking up chair time and more product To whiten the teeth right away and you're using less product. So does that make sense? So I do offer both to my patients But I like to offer the the in office option plus the take home option all for 150 so because it's just something that I like to provide for my patients, right? So that's just what I do Um, another commonly asked question is will it hurt my teeth and does it? Harm your teeth harm the enamel in any way. No, it does not but something to make note of is And I'll use the same analogy if you were to color your hair Is that healthy for your hair? Well, no, but is it going to kill you? No Same thing with whiting. I'm not saying that it's not healthy But you're penetrating your enamel a little bit, right? So any time you don't have to put something extra in the mouth Is probably better, you know, because it's technically hydrogen peroxide and carbon my peroxide, but do I Yes, do I consider I'm harming myself? No, so that's just my Real honest answer to that is it's pretty safe, you know Is it better to not whiten probably but then you won't have nice white teeth, right? And I've been a dental hygienist for 14 years I see patients all the time who get whitening every six months to every year And they're fine, you know But it can make the teeth cold sensitive. So I tell all of my patients use a Sensitive toothpaste to Use on the teeth so brush With that twice a day every day for at least a week to even two weeks Leading up to the time that you are going to get the whitening because that will actually help To prevent cold sensitivity if you're saying well, I'm not cold sensitive I would still spend the extra money to buy Sensitine so then that way you you know for sure that you're not going to be cold sensitive because remember how I said Um whitening penetrates your enamel, right? So it's not, you know, you don't want something to penetrate your enamel, but that's how whitening works So that's why people can be a little bit cold sensitive not all the time but typically But I can say the patients that I have suggested to use sencine and the ones that do use the sencine They're not cold sensitive. So talk about awesome, right? Um, another question is if you are getting married When should you whiten do not whiten the day before? It's not the end of the world if you do but if for some reason your teeth are cold sensitive If you have a reaction to the whitening which never happens, but it could happen because it's a you know hydrogen peroxide Um, you don't want to have to deal with that the next day for your wedding day, right? You don't want to lose sleep because your to your teeth are just so cold sensitive So I tell people to whiten at least one week to two weeks before the big day Um typically when I go do the wedding parties, it's about two weeks before because a week before They're all doing something else, right? The bride has stuff to do You know the bridal party the wedding parties they all have stuff to do So they don't even have time for even me to go to them, but they're doing other things, right? So I typically tell bridal parties that I will come to you about two weeks before Just so that way it's not too far out So the teeth do look as white as possible plus I do give everybody that tray And the um booster syringe to whiten about a couple days before anyway like just to give it that That new teeth white look if that makes sense Uh, what else what system should you use? This is what everybody's asking me Every dental office has a different system. There are so many different systems out there But the differences are some of them take 30 minutes some of them take an hour Some of them take an hour and a half some of them use a light some of them don't You know, I find just every hygienist has a preference I have used probably four whiting systems in my 14 years experience and I am using the one now That I like the best that seems to yield the best Results and does not make the teeth sensitive. So it took me time to kind of find that happy medium, right? And I'm a portable dental hygienist too. So I don't want something that needs a big light Um, I don't want something that takes two hours to whiten because I don't want to just hang around for two hours, right? More does the patient want me to be there for two hours? So I had to find something that was an hour or less I do have a light, but it's a handheld um light I take before and after photos people love that And it works. It's amazing. But trust me that took time like I as I mentioned I have used a variety of systems even a couple systems that I had used in a dental office I did try for my Patience where I travel to and then I thought, oh, you know what? I don't really love this Like I don't love the results. It's giving me, you know So if I'm not happy then my patients aren't going to be happy either. So I did kind of switch things up Change things around and now I am super duper happy with the system that I do have What else? Oh, how often should you whiten? That's different for everybody again It's the same thing as coloring your hair. I get my hair done probably every three or four months I would love to go every six weeks, but I just don't have time for that Don't have the money for that So I get my hair typically done every three to four months The whitening is the same. It just kind of depends on when you Look at your smile and say, oh, you know what I'm not really happy with this I'm going to touch it up. So nice thing is is if you buy that full whitening package say the one that I have for 150 dollars The touch-ups are so much cheaper. The touch-ups are 20 bucks. That's it And then that will give you lighter teeth once again, you know, because I I I will give you The refill syringe to use at home 20 bucks. That's it. You have perfectly white teeth once again So a lot more cost-effective than the crest white strips because They don't offer you touch-ups, right? And they don't really work as well either because the trays Or uh, sorry the strips are not customized for your mouth. So be careful with that another common question speaking of um, white strips or pretty much any company is why Why is the whitening so expensive in the dental office? When the crest white strips or or other systems are like 30 dollars 60 dollars? Well, it's because over the counter products They can only use a certain percentage of hydrogen peroxide usually up to one or two percent In office our our percentages start at 10 percent Up to 35 percent So I check to see what shade you have now And then I will Determine what's uh syringe what percentages you need to get the teeth lighter So if you have a very average shape a 10 percent hydrogen peroxide might be enough To get very very white teeth if you've been smoking for 10 years you might need Um upwards to a 35 percent, right? But again hydro um crest white strips have up to 2 percent hydrogen peroxide The ones that I can give you are 10 percent up to 35. So gee, I wonder which one does a better result, right? So that is something that not a lot of people know um Do the whitening toothpaste work? That's a fun one. So whitening toothpaste do take off surface stains, honestly um, there's a whitening toothpaste actually that I like because it takes off Surface stains, but it does also coat the teeth Afterwards so that more stain can't get back in That toothpaste is amazing But typically the whitening toothpaste do not work because they tend to be more coarse More abrasive. So yes, they take away stain But more stain comes back because now the tooth is more coarse So it's just better to get your teeth whitened with a dental professional If you guys have any more questions, please let me know. I am so happy to help and I will see you guys in the next one