Most of the studies that evaluate the safety of peroxide-based teeth whiteners make a reference to the equivalent concentration of hydrogen peroxide the whitener delivers during the bleaching process. As an example 10% carbamide peroxide, the whitener described on our safety pages, delivers an equivalent of roughly 3.5% hydrogen peroxide. For your own information, here are hydrogen peroxide equivalents for some of the whitening products discussed else where on our site.
Crest Whitestrips and Crest Night Effects are registered trademarks of the Proctor & Gamble Company.
Colgate Simply White and Colgate Simply White Night are registered trademarks of the Colgate-Palmolive Company.
Please note that this information relates to equivalent concentration of hydrogen peroxide only. The total amount of hydrogen peroxide exposure the user experiences can be greatly affected by the amount of bleaching agent they choose to apply.
We think it is important for you to realize that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not categorize teeth whitening products as drugs and as a result does not regulate them.
(Check out our related link about this topic).
This means that some of the over-the-counter products you will find for sale have not undergone the rigorous clinical testing for safety and effectiveness that you might have expected.
We think that a recommendation about a specific over-the-counter product from your dentist is always the best way to go. Who more so than your dentist would know which products would be especially suited for your situation and circumstances, both in terms of effectiveness and safety.
Short of this, there are some other considerations you might keep in mind when choosing an over-the-counter product.
Some of our suggestions regarding how to choose a over-the-counter teeth whitening product can be found using this link.
Dentist dispensed and supervised tray-based at-home teeth whitening methodology using 10% carbamide peroxide as the whitening agent has been extensively studied and reported on in the dental literature. Its effectiveness and safety has been well documented.
There is a related technique utilized by some over-the-counter teeth whitening products where hydrogen peroxide (as opposed to carbamide peroxide) is utilized in the bleaching tray. This technique does not have extensive documentation in the dental literature. We would like to bring to your attention that we do not consider these techniques to be equivalent.
Because of the comparative lack of documentation regarding tray-based whitening using hydrogen peroxide as the whitener vs. the abundance of information documenting the effectiveness and safety of tray-based whitening using 10% carbamide peroxide we feel the prudent choice is the later methodology. Tray-based teeth whitening utilizing hydrogen peroxide is not discussed on our site.