The idea of a “magic” whitening pen is pretty appealing. Think about it. All I have to do is touch this little pen to my teeth and they’re whitened? The inference is that I don’t have to go through the trouble of whitening gels, trays, and hours/days of treatment.
As a dentist, your job is to put that whitening pen in context and help your patients understand what it can and can’t do. Luckily, Dr. Rod Kurthy, whitening science expert and founder of KöR Whitening, provides a great explanation in his blog. In a nutshell, he explains that the only real benefit of a whitening pen is its ability to take care of tooth stains from things like coffee and wine immediately after consumption. Here’s what Dr. Kurthy says: “The time to use a peroxide-based teeth whitening pen is immediately after you consume something staining. The oxygenation caused by the saliva antioxidant breaking down the peroxide into oxygen and water creates “scrubbing bubbles,” which will help to cleanse the stains off the surface of the teeth instantly.” However, if you wait, the stain will already be absorbed into the tooth and the pen won’t be able to reach it.
Other than that, whitening pens don’t whiten teeth because they can’t. Saliva breaks down the peroxide in the pen and turns it into water and oxygen, neither of which whiten teeth. And, of course, the gel in the pen doesn’t stay on the teeth long enough to be effective.
Providing your patients with evidence-based information and whitening treatment with a proven system like KöR Whitening will benefit them and your practice…because you’ll be the one who saved them from falling for the magic pen.