There are a lot of teeth whitening products out on the market. Typical solutions tend to be unpredictable and oftentimes provide mediocre results. Even when initial results are acceptable, they often regress quicker than you or your patients expected.

But this is not the case for every teeth whitening solution. At KöR Whitening, we have tested and developed the perfect whitening solution, based entirely on science, that will satisfy every party involved. Along the way, we’ve noticed there are certain things that average teeth whitening products have in common, so we’ve been sure to modify and reject items that cause issues with the teeth whitening process. Let’s take a look at some of the common problems associated with teeth whitening products on the market.

“We have tested and developed the perfect whitening solution that will satisfy every party involved.”

1. Peroxide Whitening Gel Potency
By nature, peroxides are unstable chemicals. That’s a good thing. Being unstable is what allows peroxides to break down quickly in the mouth, releasing bleaching factor byproducts that whiten teeth. But this chemical instability is a double-edged sword – instability can also be a problem. The instability of peroxide chemistry results in unwanted premature breakdown of whitening gels. That means that normally the peroxide whitening gels have broken down significantly and lost whitening power before the gels are even used on or by the patients.

2. Heat Degradation
Higher temperatures cause the unstable whitening gels to break down even faster. Most often, warmer temperatures are encountered in storage warehouses and downright hot temperatures (as high as 165°F) during truck shipping to and from those warehouses. It’s not cheap or easy to keep the gels refrigerated throughout the entire storage and shipping processes, so degradation is bound to happen multiple times along the way.

3. Chemical Stabilizing Gel Ingredients
It is common for manufacturers to use anhydrous gel bases and/or phosphoric acid to stabilize the gels, lessening the amount of premature chemical breakdown. Unfortunately, these chemical stabilizers cause the whitening gels to be more stable (less unstable) when placed on the teeth of patients. Therefore, the whitening gels do not break down as effectively, resulting in less whitening result.

4. Lack of Chemically Influenced Production of Effective Bleaching Factors
Peroxide can break down to water and oxygen (which has no effect on whitening) or can break down to effective ions that whiten teeth. If the whitening gel does not have chemistry that forces the breakdown to effective ions, much of it will, instead, break down to only ineffective water and oxygen.

5. Short Time of Treatment
Most in-office teeth whitening treatments include only 15-45 minutes of contact time between the peroxide gel and the tooth structure. Most at-home whitening trays lose 60-95% of their potency after only 20-35 minutes, with little-to-no effectiveness thereafter. High potency peroxide gel must be in contact for longer periods of time in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

6. Ineffectiveness of Lights and Lasers
As virtually all dentists have heard by now, lights and lasers used to enhance the teeth whitening process seem cool, but do absolutely nothing to enhance the effectiveness of teeth whitening. Not only that, but use of bleaching lights and lasers enhances sensitivity of the teeth as well as discomfort during whitening procedures. Dr. Rod Kurthy, of KöR Whitening, has done a lot of research on this, so ask about our science paper, The Myth of Whitening Lights and Lasers to learn the true scientific facts that explain why bleaching lights and lasers do nothing to enhance whiteness – and the nitty-gritty about why they often cause acute and intense discomfort.

KöR Whitening has researched, developed and tested these common teeth whitening problems. Understanding the full spectrum of science related to what works, and what doesn’t work, is what helped Dr. Rod Kurthy create a teeth whitening system that does work. The right combination of high-potency peroxide gels, storage/delivery, in-office treatment applications and follow-up maintenance is what the KöR Whitening system is all about.