What to Know About Whitening
Four Categories of Whitening Options including Pros and Cons

When it comes to deciding what option may be best for a patient, it is important to incorporate the most current scientific evidence along with your clinical experience and the patient’s preferences, values and clinical circumstances. When available, a clinical practice guideline(s) should be reviewed to see if it covers the patient’s specific conditions. Since whitening has been a hot topic in dentistry for several years, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on various whitening options, including treatment time, wear time, frequency and dosage or concentration of the active agent, i.e., HP.^12-16,21

Whitening procedures can be placed into four categories: professionally applied in-office, professionally dispensed patient take-home, consumer purchased over-the-counter (OTC), and non-dental options.³