Helaine Smith DMD

News Center 5’s (WCVB Boston) Susan Wornick reported that teeth whitening at the mall isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

In this segment, Mall Teeth Whitening: Is it Safe?, the Channel 5 news team interviewed me, my colleague, Dr. Steven Spitz of SmileBoston, and Matt Dispensa, the owner of SmileBright at the Natick Collection mall in Natick, MA.

As I’ve written before in other posts, Getting Your Teeth Whitened at the Mall — Good or Bad?, and Myth Busters: The Facts About Teeth Whitening, the people who work at mall teeth whitening kiosks and storefronts are not dental technicians, something Dispensa confirms.

And as Dr. Spitz points out in the news report, teeth whitening kiosks are not regulated.

The reason I am troubled by these kiosks and storefronts is because some patients can’t have their teeth whitened due to other dental issues, such as crowns (which can’t be whitened), issues that caused tooth discoloration in the first place (i.e. taking medications as a child), or tooth decay. I’m very upfront with people when they have these issues.

Unfortunately, the sales clerks at mall kiosks have no clue about the condition of your mouth. You sign a waiver, put the peroxide in your mouth, and that’s it. You have no recourse should the whitening procedure not whiten your teeth as you expected or you have an adverse reaction to the peroxide.

Thank you to Susan Wornick for reporting on this important issue and for educating consumers about the teeth whitening industry.