One of the best ways to improve your appearance is to make your teeth whiter. Laser tooth whitening is, by far, the most popular cosmetic dentistry procedure. This is basically due to the fact that people know just how big an effect great teeth can have on your looks. The teeth are front and center on your face you see. If they're not beautiful, chances are you're not a great looking human being. Don't take this wrong way! Most men and women aren't blessed with stain-free teeth. Over time, all of us develop issues with yellow and brown spots that coat the surface of at least some of the teeth in our mouths. A good in office tooth whitening procedure can clear up most stains though. This isn't a particularly cheap teeth whitening option, but it is very effective. In this article, we'll look at what's involved in a typical laser tooth whitening system. We'll also check out a few of the more popular brands available.

Before we continue, I think it's important to state the fact that I'm not a dentist or tooth whitening expert.  I do have some experience with these procedures, but you should take everything I say with a grain of salt or two.  This really is the case for everything you read online.  I encourage you to check out a few sites and read some reviews of different whitening systems.  There are also good deals to be had online but make sure that you do enough research before making a choice.

Laser Tooth Whitening - A Basic Overview Of The Procedure

Just to clear something up, the "laser" used in this whitening procedure isn't really a laser.  It's more of blue lamp that's used to activate the peroxide gel responsible for the whitening effect.  All of these procedures need to be done in a dentist's office by a professional.  Before one is cleared for this procedure, a thorough tooth exam must take place.  The dentist is basically looking for any serious problems with your teeth.  If he finds any hints of gum disease or severe tooth decay, the laser tooth whitening will not commence.  This is due to the fact that the bleach in the peroxide gel can actually make these problems worse.

Providing your teeth are healthy, the dentist will then give your mouth a proper cleaning.  Having white teeth is great but having healthy clean teeth is far more important.  You should never sacrifice health for aesthetics when it comes to anything.

After the cleaning, the dentist or teeth whitening technician is ready to start the procedure.  A cheek retractor is put in the patient's mouth.  This allows the dentist to do his job without worrying about the strength of the patient's jaw.  A hydrogen peroxide gel is then applied to every tooth in the mouth.  The best thing about going with an in office procedure as opposed to a home one is the fact that the gel used in office is a lot stronger.  If in the wrong hands, this highly concentrated gel can actually be quite dangerous.  This is why it's so crucial that these laser whitening systems are done by professionals.  Depending on which specific product you use, multiple coatings of this gel may be required.

After the teeth are fully coated, it's time for the "laser" portion of this procedure.  As mentioned above, this is basically a blue light that sits about two inches away from the mouth.  It illuminates the teeth, working with the gel to create the whitening effect.  The entire laser teeth whitening process takes about an hour.

As far as teeth whitening options go, ones of the laser variety are definitely the most effective.  Unfortunately, they're also the most expensive.  Most of these systems cost about $600.

Below, you'll find a list of some of the more popular brands.  Check out these links for more info!  Good luck!