Teeth Whitening Ampules - Are They For You?

by Laurie Peterson



So like most of the population, you have good oral hygiene, you exercise, and you try to take care of your appearance, including your teeth. But, also like most of us, you have a few lifestyle habits - maybe it's tea, cola or Starbucks coffee - that make it hard to maintain the bright, white smile you crave.

The solution? There are multiple methods at various expense and complexity levels for obtaining a whiter smile. But what about portable whitening ampules? These are the tiny glass cylinders of clear whitening fluid. When you break the seal in the center of each single use ampule, the whitener flows to a tiny brush tip and you essentially brush your teeth with it. The instructions suggest you keep your lips, tongue and any food or fluid away from your teeth for five minutes (which is definitely harder than it seems!) and after twice daily use for a period of 10 days promise a whitening effect of up to 7-10 shades.

Portable whitening, over the counter availability, and extreme whitening within the space of 10 days. Is this solution as great as it seems?

In a word - no. But the idea - and the implementation - is a concept worth considering in greater detail.

There are several popular whitening ampules on the market today. The pluses: the tiny ampules are portable, self contained, and not messy or gritty to use. Sounds ideal, yes?

The cons? There are more than a few:

• Strength - over the counter ampules contain approximately 6% whitening gel-typically hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide-paired with other inert and flavoring ingredients. This is comparable to popular white strips-but professional strength whiteners you obtain from a dentist or medical spa contain whitening formula at strengths ranging from 10-33% For example, custom whitening kits can offer 22% carbamide peroxide whitening gel-and portable whitening pens contain 33% carbamide peroxide. Clearly, professional products carry more whitening power by orders of magnitude than over-the-counter or mail order whitening brands.

• Price - the popular options offer 28 "on the go" whitening ampules for 14 days of twice daily use, plus a Morning and Night toothpaste for $79.99 plus shipping and handling. In all, you're looking at a "cool hundred" for this portable solution. That's significantly less money than a dental treatment (typically $300-400)-but definitely not cheap.

• Convenience-Consider the realities of keeping your lips and tongue away from your gel-coated teeth for five minutes at a time, twice a day. It's harder than it seems! While the portable ampule-with-tip design is a dream come true, and the concept of stopping stains before they begin is a good one, the practicality of keeping gel coated teeth dry for an entire five minutes is hard to achieve. Consider this: a custom set of whitening trays - available for as little as $69 from

• Effectiveness. 7-10 shades of whitening in 10 days? Not a chance, testers say. In fact, any quick, portable solution is generally good for only 2 shades of additional whitening, at best. Two shades is significant - but for a lasting improvement of 7-9 shades of whitening requires either porcelain or composite veneers, which are permanent, or periodic treatment with whitening tray and professional strength carbamide or hydrogen peroxide whitening gel. (Carbamide is the more stable and preferred alternative of the two.)

The verdict? While ampule products do sell well, and developers should be applauded for developing ever more innovative methods for teeth whitening delivery, this is a method with a long way to go. Reviewers report whitening improvement of 1-2 shades at best. The whitening gel stung the gums of some reviewers, making them burn and turn temporarily white. Some reviewers like the convenience of ducking into the ladies' room with a tiny ampule and emerging with whiter teeth and fresh breath. But in pratical application, users report better results and more convenience from standard white strips or even no-name whitening gel and an electric toothbrush.

The cost for these products is "crazy expensive" for the common ingredients they contain.

In a nutshell, it's great to see the teeth whitening industry develop new innovations-but unless you're entirely taken with the unique form factor of whitening ampules, portable whitening pens portable whitening pens and custom teeth whitening trays with professional strength gel are the most practical way to go.

Shine Teeth Whitening offers professional teeth whitening services for medical spas, laser centers and cosmetic medical offices. Shine gives these medical spas and physicians the ability to provide custom teeth whitening services and products like teeth whitening kits and fantastic new smile whitening pens.