Zoom Professional Teeth Whitening – Good and Bad

If you’re looking for professional teeth whitening, it’s likely that you’ve talked to a dentist or seen information on the new Zoom (the latest is “Zoom 2″) teeth whitening system.

The Zoom system is basically an in-office bleaching, but it is much faster and uses a whitening gel agent whose bleach is activated by a light.  The agent is much stronger than what you can buy off the shelf or even the normal tray whitening systems that are the usual teeth whitening setups used by people.  Because it’s stronger, the agent with Zoom often works faster and better.

The gel is applied directly to your teeth, avoiding your gums and sensitive spots.  A special frequency light is then shone on your teeth for a specific amount of time (just a few minutes), activating the gel and causing the bleaching action to begin.  This professional teeth whitening system often has fast results, with many teeth whitening clients having the Zoom treatment done over a lunch hour.

The treatment usually takes less than 45 minutes in total.

The biggest advantage to professional teeth whitening systems like Zoom is that it’s done in a dentist’s office where the application, use, and entire treatment can be controlled.  This means the right amount of bleach, the right length of treatment, and the right intervals can be used to maximize the teeth whitening regimen.

The down side, of course, is that it’s more expensive.  Because it’s faster, though, Zoom is often cheaper than the other professional teeth whitening alternatives and generally safer and nearly as effective as even the best of them.

This is important, since most dental plans don’t cover whitening and consider it cosmetic.  So what you pay matters to you.

Most Zoom patients who do normal at-home cleaning (brushing, flossing, etc.) only require Zoom treatments once a year or so to stay white and bright.

What’s the Best Professional Teeth Whitening System?

You would think that the answer to this question would be relatively easy.  After all, dentists are doctors and so you likely assume that they have tested and proven one or the other as the best tooth whitening system.  Right?

There are soaking methods (bleaching), lasers, gel and light pulses, and so forth.  So which one works the best?

That question can’t be answered de facto.  Professional teeth whitening is more than just a method, it’s a consideration of your dentist’s examination of your teeth, what will likely work best, and what you can afford to use.  No method is the same for everyone, so one might be effective for one person, but a different teeth whitening system might be better for someone else.

Dentistry, like medicine, is all about probabilities.  Most dentists can’t say for certain that one thing is going to work all of the time, every time.  Fillings sometimes fall out, surgeries sometimes fail, methods sometimes are ineffective.  That’s just how it is.  Just as a doctor can only guess what type of medicine might work to help you, a dentist can only make an educated guess about the best tooth whitening method for your mouth.

With all of that, the best professional teeth whitening always comes from one source: a professional.  Your dentist can tell you which one will probably work for you, which one likely won’t, and what kind of benefit you can expect from one or the other.

Other services like teeth cleaning and scrubbing can often lead to the best tooth whitening you can find.  The dentist can also tell by the underlying color of your teeth (everyone’s is different whether a particular professional teeth whitening method is going to work well or not.

Overall, it’s your dentist who will be best consulted for the best tooth whitening for your needs.  He may prescribe a take-home kit, an intense in-office professional teeth whitening system, or something elese.