With all of the new teeth whitening products flooding the market and all of the rumors about whitening methods circulating, how do you decide which is the best product for your practice and for your patients? This month’s issue of The BEYOND^® Messenger aims to answer those questions. We promise to remain as objective as possible in our review of available teeth whitening methods in order to provide you with an unbiased resource for learning more about teeth whitening and the options available to you.

As always, please feel free to contact us directly with any additional questions you may have or if we left some of your questions unanswered in this issue.

Sincerely,
The BEYOND^® International Marketing Department

When comparing different whitening systems, you need to take into consideration several key points:

1. What kind of light source does this system use?
There are several different kinds of light sources available and some are significantly stronger than others. Essentially the stronger the light source, the faster and more effective whitening treatment. The strongest light technology options available right now are halogen and mercury metal halide light. BEYOND^® uses a halogen light source. Other cheaper, less effective options include LED or even gimmicky, flashing lights. You want to consider a system that has one of the more powerful light source options as these will produce better, longer-lasting whitening results because the light-accelerated whitening will be stronger and deeper.

2. Does the system contain a light filtration system?
For the systems with stronger light sources, you will want to use one that filters the harmful spectrums of the light out before it is exposed to your mouth. BEYOND^® has an advanced light filtration system that removes all harmful ultraviolet light and restricts the light spectrum to the most effective whitening wavelengths, between 480-520 nanometers. Other systems don’t filter their light, so your mouth is being exposed to all wavelengths of light, including potentially harmful ultraviolet light. These systems require that all pink tissue in the mouth be completely blocked-out in order to avoid exposure to UV in your mouth during the treatment.

3. What is the quality of the whitening gel?
High-quality whitening gels use a dual-barrel dispensing system because they contain both active ingredients and activating catalysts that actively work to accelerate the whitening process and provide the best and longest-lasting results. Cheaper whitening gels are beginning to flood the market and the results seen from these are not comparable to those from high-quality whitening systems.

Essentially, when researching what teeth whitening system you want to use to with your patients, you want to ask as many questions as possible so that you can make an informed decision. The person you talk to should be able to answer your questions thoroughly and to your satisfaction. Cheaper whitening systems are starting to enter the market and you need to proceed with caution when considering using these systems. Lack of a light filtration system or a lower-quality whitening gel could seriously injure your patients or result in poor whitening results. It is important that you feel comfortable with the quality of the system before beginning any power-whitening treatment and that you are familiar with how the system works and the precautions (if any) that need to be taken.

BEYOND^® is offering free online training sessions for anyone looking to learn more about the BEYOND^® whitening procedure. Please note that completing one of these sessions will certify you to train others on how to perform the BEYOND^® treatment, but unless you are a licensed dental professional, you cannot perform the BEYOND^® treatment on anyone. Following the training, all participants may receive an official Training Certificate from a regional BEYOND Headquarters office.

Contact us today at info@beyonddent.com to learn more about our online training sessions.

The primary difference between in-office whitening and take-home (often called Tray Whitening) whitening lies in the time needed to achieve the desired whitening results. Light-accelerated whitening systems used in chair-side bleaching can provide immediate, dramatic results in one treatment; typically 30 minutes to one hour. Tray whitening requires custom formed trays and the use of take-home gel for 10 to 20 days.

Strength of the whitening gel used also varies between the two options. In-office dental systems usually use between 15%-35% hydrogen peroxide. Take-home whitening kits typically contain 3% to 7% hydrogen peroxide (or the equivalent in a Urea Peroxide compound). The higher the hydrogen peroxide percentage is, the faster the treatment – but the greater the risk of sensitivity.

Regardless of the strength of the gel, your will see the similar results in the end, so the decision between in-office and over-the-counter depends on the patient’s budget and time.

Whitening doesn’t need to begin and end with the in-office BEYOND^® Power Whitening Treatment. We have a popular line of advanced whitening toothpastes that will help to maintain whitening results, while promoting oral hygiene and health.

For all of you who are already familiar with our popular BEYOND^® Pearl White Whitening Toothpaste with Fluoride Advanced Formula, we have upgraded our toothpaste production facilities to meet the high volume demand for this product. We anticipate sales of our BEYOND^® Pearl White toothpastes to increase dramatically following the release of our new BEYOND^® Pearl White Whitening Toothpaste with Fluoride Sensitivity Formula and are excited about the response that we will see from this new product. This new anti-sensitivity toothpaste formula has the same powerful whitening results as the original BEYOND^® Pearl White, but also contains potassium nitrate for soothing the irritated nerves in the teeth and providing long-term, lasting protection against the causes of hypersensitivity.

So when you talk to your dental customers, make sure to mention our popular BEYOND^® Pearl White toothpaste line. They will love our high-quality line of whitening toothpastes that will improve their patients’ oral health while maintaining shiny, white BEYOND^® smiles!

To ask Dr. Jenny a question, please send an email addressed to her to info@beyonddent.com.

Q: How long after radiation treatment (chemotherapy) can a person have their teeth whitened?

A: There is no set time frame for how long after chemotherapy the patient should wait before undergoing the BEYOND^® treatment because it depends on the individual and his or her current state of oral health.

I recommend that the dentist performing the whitening treatment perform a thorough oral check-up before beginning the treatment. This is because chemotherapy can have serious oral health side-effects and the dentist should check first to make sure that there is no evidence of gum damage, open sores, dry mouth, or other side-effects of the chemotherapy.

You can tell your patient that the BEYOND^® procedure will not compromise the integrity of healthy tooth enamel. It does dehydrate the enamel to a small degree, but your saliva will naturally rehydrate the teeth within 24 hours. So there is no lasting impact on healthy tooth enamel from the whitening treatment. However if the patient is experiencing dry mouth or other side-effects from the chemotherapy, then he or she should wait until these symptoms are alleviated and he or she has spoken with his or her dentist about the appropriate treatment(s), if any, for his or her condition.

Another point that may come up: The patient does not need to worry about excess exposure to UV light from our whitening treatment. Unlike other teeth whitening systems on the market, we filter out all harmful UV light from our light source, so if he or she has undergone photo-chemotherapy or has a history of skin cancer and is more susceptible to UV light, then BEYOND^® is the correct treatment for this client to consider.