USA - $15 billion by 2010 market to whiten teeth

Blind friends with your deadly white teeth
By MADELEINE MARR
The Miami Herald
Published: Monday, April 09, 2007
THE MIAMI HERALD Dentist Dr. Ewaldo Wendler displays the Zoom! machine that he uses to whiten his patient's teeth, at his Miami office, March 28.
Espresso in the morning. Cabernet at night. A Diet Coke here and there.
Whatever the tasty poison, your smile isn't looking up to snuff these days.
Safe to say you're not without options. Spin your cart down the dental-health aisle. The shelves are practically sagging with at-home whitening gels, pastes, washes, flosses and even herbs. Apparently, worries over tartar and plaque -- the buzzwords of the last few years -- have gone the way of silver fillings.

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is: Last year alone, Americans spent more than $1 billion on over-the-counter bleaching products. In his book, "Smile! The Ultimate Guide to Achieving Smile Beauty" (Warner Wellness, $13.95), Jonathan B. Levine, founder of the GoSMILE brand, predicts the market for tooth-whitening products and services will reach $15 billion by 2010.
"It is by far my most popular procedure, hands down," says Fort Lauderdale, Fla., dentist Dr. Gary Kodish. Not just for him; whitening is the No. 1 requested cosmetic service in the United States, according to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.
Kodish saw a spike in business shortly after the television show "Extreme Makeover" began in 2002. "People didn't realize that you could do these kind of things," he says. "I think before the show they kind of accepted they had unattractive teeth and dealt with it."
Or perhaps they just gave up. We've all had a less than stellar experience with the latest get-whiter-faster gadget or goop. Maybe the changes were subtle, but betcha your chompers never sparkled like the ones in those Orbit ads.
Two options
Your bathroom sink vs. the dentist chair: What's the better call? Both techniques employ hydrogen peroxide. However, home stuff contains a fraction (around 6 percent) of H2O2 as opposed to 20 percent or more in the dentist's procedures. The low peroxide levels means the solution can stay on your teeth longer.
"In-office products get you that immediate wow result because they are more concentrated and work in conjunction with light," Levine says.
A light used to activate the chemical reaction in bleach is cast on Deborah Merry's teeth at the office of Fort Lauderdale dentist Gary Kodish on March 21.
Want a serious wow result? The buzz in the dental community is centered squarely on the Zoom! system, founded by Extreme's resident dentist, Dr. William Dorfman. It takes just an hour and you can detect a difference in shade after 24 hours.
But it'll cost ya. The average price -- $600 -- is a lot more than a tube of Ultrabrite......................