Many times I’ve seen ads on the internet that say something like “what your dentist doesn’t want you to know about bleaching teeth”. As a dentist myself, I wasn’t aware there was anything I didn’t want my patients to know, so I followed one of these ads till I was convinced it was just a cheap ploy to sell cheap bleach. The other day, however, I had a patient confess that he had fallen for the almost free offer – “what could it hurt?”

Here is his story:

He paid only $5 for an introductory bleaching kit, which had some generic one-size-fits-all trays that he was to customize himself. It had some tubes labeled bleach in varying concentrations, including some at 44% (a higher percentage than I have ever seen recommended for professional use!) The most interesting thing was a small hand held battery operated light. Considering the lack of evidence that any of the professional lights, which cost many thousands of dollars, really do any good, this little reshaped penlight is a joke!

But he only paid $5, so no harm done, right? After reading all the warnings and potential side effects, he didn’t have the nerve to try the stuff. He decided to return it for a refund, but was told it was past 20 days and he could not get his money back. A little while later he received more of the stuff in the mail, and was billed for $70! It seems he was automatically enrolled in a monthly plan, charged to his debit card. He told me he had so much trouble trying to stop this auto-mess, he was forced to close that account!

It looks to me like this particular company was not nearly so interested in lightening his teeth as they were in lightening his wallet! As with a lot of things, you get what you pay for… there are many ways to whiten teeth, ranging from legitimate over the counter kits to dentist made tray bleaching to in-office bleaching. They all have their pros and cons. I would advise anyone considering teeth whitening to ask questions of their dentist, and together decide which option fits their situation the best. And if the deal looks too good to be true… it probably isn’t true!