Caroline Aghajanian: I am obsessed
with having my teeth be pearly white,
and about eight years ago I tried
those drugstore whitening strips,
and I think they did
a really good job whitening my teeth.
The only cons were that it took about two weeks,
they stung my gums a bit, and they left my teeth feeling
very sensitive a few weeks after.
I've never tried any professional whitening service,
but I know a lot of dentists use
this service called Zoom Teeth Whitening,
and it's supposed to be an hour-long service
that gives you instant white teeth.
So, today we're in Beverly Hills
visiting dentist Kevin Sands,
and he's worked on countless Hollywood smiles,
and today he's working on mine.
So let's see if Zoom is worth it.
Right when you walk in, you see the office
decorated with magazine covers
of the many celebrities Sands has worked on.
First, like any medical office,
I had to sign important paperwork.
Then I met with Sands to hear all about the treatment.
Kevin Sands: So, what we're gonna do is
we're gonna apply a layer of the bleach to your teeth.
The Zoom is a UVA, UVB light that activates the product,
and it whitens the enamel of your teeth.
Caroline: How is this different from, like,
regular whitening strips?
Sands: Well, first of all, regular whitening strips,
you know, they do work, but they don't have
as much of the active ingredient to whiten, you know,
to really whiten your teeth the way people want them.
Caroline: That active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide,
which is about 25% of Zoom's whitening product.
After some research online,
I found that common drugstore whitening strips,
for example, Crest Whitestrips,
have hydrogen peroxide levels ranging
from about 6% to 14%.
How many shades whiter can you get
someone's teeth with Zoom?
Sands: OK, well, depending on each individual,
you can get one shade lighter up to,
you know, five to 10 shades lighter.
It just depends how much enamel you have,
your lifestyle.
People that drink a lot of coffee and red wine
aren't gonna get as good of a result.
And also patients that don't have a lot
of enamel don't get the best results either.
Caroline: At Sands' office,
he offers the service for $750.
However, he mentioned it doesn't work
on veneers, crowns, or decaying teeth.
The results usually last about six months,
but that all depends on your lifestyle
and cleaning regimen.
Once I knew what I was getting myself into,
Sands brought in his assistant Megan
to perform the treatment.
First, we examined my teeth to find the best shade.
Megan Robertson: No, you're definitely not there.
And you're not there. You have really
nice shade going on now,
so you're already in the bleaching category.
I would put you about
a BL3 or a BL4,
so you're already in the category of being really light.
So hopefully we can get you to somewhere around here.
Caroline: [gasps] Yeah.
Robertson: OK?
Caroline: Yes, that one.
Robertson: We wear these glasses. These protect your eyes
from the UV light that we're gonna use.
We're gonna apply some vitamin E oil to your lips.
All the Zoom kits come with this.
It's just a nice way so that your lips
don't get dehydrated during the treatment.
The next thing I'm gonna do is put this retractor.
It's gonna expand. It looks a little intense,
but it's not really.
So, I'm gonna have you open as wide as you can.
So, it's also important we keep everything really dry.
So I'm gonna insert some cotton here,
and then we're gonna apply this towel.
It just protects your skin.
This is a protective ingredient
that we're gonna put on your gums to protect them
so none of the bleaching gel will touch your gums.
And now we're gonna apply the actual bleaching solution.
So, it's 25% hydrogen peroxide, OK?
So it's really strong, so you want to make sure
you don't put your fingers up near your teeth
while this is going on.
Caroline: [muffled] It kinda, it feels really relaxing.
I didn't feel discomfort.
Like,
I don't feel the LED light,
and I don't taste the gel or anything,
so it's good.
The solution is removed after about 15 minutes.
For my teeth, we did a second round of whitening.
Some teeth require three or four rounds for best results.
[muffled] It feels a little more sensitive now.
Robertson: A little tingly? Caroline: Mm-hmm.
Robertson: On the lower front teeth?
Caroline: Oh, yeah.
Robertson: That's the most common area
to start to get sensitive,
and it's just because the teeth are dehydrated.
Caroline: Once those 15 minutes were up,
my teeth had to be cleaned before I could see the results.
You don't see, like, the little yellows
that I used to have around, like,
the rims of the teeth, like the gum.
Robertson: You got a beautiful result.
Caroline: Yay! I love it!
Wow, so what were my teeth like before?
Robertson: So, before we started,
you were in this shade range, BL4.
It's a nice shade,
but we definitely increased your shade dramatically
to a BL1, which is the lightest shade possible.
And you just want to, you know,
avoid dark-colored foods and liquids for 24 hours.
Caroline: OK.
Robertson: And after that, back to normal.
Caroline: I've had my pearly white teeth
for a few weeks now, and I've been enjoying them.
But here's the thing. In real life,
I can see the difference,
and I've had a lot of people compliment on my teeth,
but when I look at the before and after pictures,
it's a little hard for me to tell.
I think it's because I started
with pretty white teeth already.
But the major change I see is
whitening around the edges of my teeth;
that's the areas I should be flossing more.
Overall, if you have stained teeth,
probably a little bit more yellowish than what I had,
and you have zero time to wait
and you want instant white teeth in under an hour,
then I think it's worth trying Zoom
and seeing how the results last.
For me, I've realized that it's probably smarter
to stick with the more affordable drugstore options,
even if it takes some time and I might feel
some sensitivity a few weeks after,
but I think I'll see similar results
while saving myself some cash.