If you have recommended one of pola’s take-home whitening kits for your patient, the next step is choosing which teeth whitening system – poladay or polanight – is going to work best for them. Here, we weigh up the differences between our best-selling take-home options.
Step 1: educate your patient
Public awareness about legal whitening regulations remains low, so if your patient has come to you for an initial whitening consultation, bear in mind that they may still be shopping around. Make sure they don’t leave without understanding that only GDC-registered dental professionals can legally provide prescription whitening in the UK – and that professional whitening, with products containing up to 6% hydrogen peroxide, or 16% carbamide peroxide, is the only way they can achieve predictable, safe results.
Step 2: discuss their motivation
Many patients investigate professional teeth whitening because they want to reverse discolouration caused by staining; others have noticed their teeth looking yellower with age; some simply feel self-conscious taking selfies. Whatever the reason, their lifestyle, commitment to oral hygiene and general dental health are all factors that contribute to your decision about whether to recommend the poladay or polanight whitening system.
Step 3: consider the options
If your patient is happy to carry out their whitening in their own time, poladay or polanight are suited to a wide range of needs. Hydrogen-peroxide-based poladay comes in a 3% or 6% formulation and can be applied for as few as 30 minutes, twice a day. polanight, meanwhile, offers 10% or 16% carbamide peroxide and is designed to be worn overnight. The choice of formulations means you can tailor your product and timescale to your patient’s individual needs, depending on how sensitive their teeth are, and how quickly they want results.
Step 4: what about sensitivity?
Both poladay and polanight contain fluoride-releasing properties that act as a built-in desensitiser, and they also have a high water content that helps reduce sensitivity. We also recommend patients use pola soothe during their whitening treatment – a topical gel that can be applied before or after treatment. pola soothe contains 6% potassium nitrate, which blocks transmission, and 0.1% fluoride which reduces sensitivity and assists remineralisation of the teeth.
Book your FREE ‘Lunch & Learn’ with SDI’s range of professional pola tooth whitening systems here, or find out more by visiting our product page.
