One of the most significant advantages of getting your teeth whitened at the dentist is the treatment oversight before and during treatment to guarantee good results that you cannot get with at-home methods. First, at the dentist, prior to teeth whitening, the dental professional will examine your teeth to make sure you are a good candidate for teeth whitening. If you have any visible restorations, they will not get bleached and may leave your teeth looking discolored or stained. The dental professional will be able to examine your teeth thoroughly and determine whether bleaching is right for you. This can avoid any potential less-than-perfect results.
In addition, the dental professional will clean your teeth and remove any plaque or tartar prior to applying the bleaching agent to optimize results. During treatment, the dental professional will also monitor the whitening procedure to make sure nothing goes wrong and the treatment is as painless as possible, with minimal tooth sensitivity and gum irritation following treatment.
Unlike most at-home whitening methods (i.e. whitening toothpastes, baking soda, etc.), which remove plaque and discoloration on the surface of the teeth, in-office professional whitening penetrates teeth from within, where age and medication-related discoloration occurs. This results in far more dramatic and longer-lasting results than with at-home systems. (It is important to note that, depending on your individual case, your teeth may require more than one session to see dramatic results.)

Tooth Whitening and How Does it Work?

The ‘active ingredient' in the product is usually hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. As the active ingredient is broken down, oxygen gets into the enamel on the teeth and the tooth color is made lighter. The process of tooth whitening lightens the color of a tooth.[1] Tooth whitening can be achieved by either changing the intrinsic color or by removing and controlling the formation of extrinsic stains. There is now laser whitening or ‘power whitening'. During this procedure a rubber dam is put over your teeth to protect the gums, and a bleaching product is painted onto your teeth. Then a light or laser is shone on the teeth to activate the chemical. The light speeds up the reaction of the whitening product and the color change can be achieved more quickly. Laser whitening is said to make teeth up to five or six shades lighter..