What Whitening Costs
Everything the fee includes, how it sits against prices elsewhere in Lanarkshire, when a hygiene visit might be enough, and the factors that decide your final shade.
How Much Is Teeth Whitening in Lanark, and Is It Worth the Money?
At Lanark Smile Studios, Boutique home whitening is £350, or £315 for dental plan members, and it's included at no extra cost with every Invisalign and bonding package. For that you get an examination, trays made to fit, professional gel and a review appointment, and the trays are yours to keep. If you'd like your natural teeth lighter, it's good value: nothing else can legally change their colour, and the result usually lasts more than a year.
One Fee, Everything Included
Our practice in Lanark has a single whitening fee: £350, or £315 for members of our dental plans. 1 Nothing gets added on top once you've started. The fee includes:
- A dental examination of teeth and gums, so any decay, cracks or gum problems are treated before whitening
- A digital scan with our iTero scanner rather than impression putty
- Trays made from that scan, which hold the gel against your teeth and away from your gums
- Boutique professional gel, prescribed by your dentist
- A note of the shade you begin at
- A review appointment to look at the result and plan how to keep it
The trays go home with you permanently. If you need more gel for top-ups later, you can buy it from the practice; ask the team for the current price.
When Whitening Is Included
| Treatment you're having | Whitening |
|---|---|
| Invisalign, with packages from £3,250 | Included |
| Composite bonding, with four teeth from £1,550 | Included |
| Whitening by itself | £350 |
| Whitening by itself, as a plan member | £315 |
There's a practical reason it comes with bonding. Composite is matched to your tooth colour on the day it's placed and won't lighten afterwards, so we whiten first and then match the bonding to your new shade. With Invisalign, whitening rounds things off once your teeth are in line. Our guide to whitening before bonding goes into more detail.
Find Out What Shade Is Realistic
Your whitening consultation at our Lanark practice is free.
Comparing Prices
Elsewhere in Lanarkshire, published whitening prices run from roughly £250 to £390. As we write this, our fee sits at the top of that range. If you're weighing up quotes, check whether the price covers an examination, both upper and lower teeth, and a review. In-chair whitening usually brings more sensitivity, and a properly supervised home course tends to reach a similar shade in the end.
Salon and kiosk deals aren't a fair comparison. In the UK it's illegal for anyone other than a registered dental professional to whiten teeth, and the products they use may not work or may be banned altogether.
Do You Actually Need Whitening?
Sometimes you don't. If your teeth look dull mainly because of surface marks from smoking or years of strong tea, a hygiene visit with Airflow (£100) can make a big difference, and using a whitening toothpaste two or three times a week helps keep them clean in between. Neither alters the natural colour of the tooth, but if it's been a while since your last clean, it's a sensible first step.
If the yellow runs right through the tooth, it's another matter, because peroxide whitening is the only thing that changes colour from within. Strips and pens sold in shops are restricted by law to 0.1% hydrogen peroxide, so they mostly deal with surface stain. Once a dentist has checked it's safe for you, they can prescribe gel of up to 6% in trays made for your teeth. Nothing is drilled away or added to the tooth, which makes it the gentlest cosmetic treatment we offer.
What Affects Your Final Shade
- Your starting colour. Yellowish teeth respond well. Grey or brown tones take longer, and a single tooth that went dark after an injury might need a different treatment.
- Existing dental work. Fillings, bonding, crowns and veneers stay the colour they are.
- Following the routine. Skipping nights makes the course take longer.
- How your teeth respond. If they feel tender, shorter wear or a night off now and then slows things slightly but doesn't halt progress.
- Your habits afterwards. Smoking, tea, coffee and red wine bring stain back more quickly.
No two people get exactly the same result. 2 Before you begin, your dentist will show you a shade that's realistic for your teeth, and will tell you honestly if a different treatment would serve you better.
Value Over the Years
Most whitening results last at least a year, and some last several, depending on what you eat and drink and whether you smoke. Because you keep the trays, you can bring the colour back with a small amount of gel rather than paying for a full course again, and regular hygiene visits stop surface stain from building up. Spread over the time it lasts, whitening is one of the less expensive cosmetic treatments, and it's a change people tend to notice. Our guide to keeping your teeth white covers habits that make it last longer.
The Limits of Whitening
Whitening changes colour and nothing else. Chipped, gappy or crowded teeth need bonding or Invisalign, and both of those come with whitening included. Fillings, bonding and crowns on your front teeth won't lighten, so at your consultation we'll point out any that might stand out afterwards; replacing them carries a separate fee.
UK law says whitening has to be prescribed by a dentist. For under-18s, gels above 0.1% hydrogen peroxide may only be used to treat or prevent disease, which means teenagers can't have cosmetic whitening. We also don't whiten anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding.
Plan Members Get 10% Off
If you join one of our dental plans, whitening comes down by 10%, to £315 rather than £350, and Airflow hygiene visits are part of the plan. Plan A costs £24.10 a month and Plan B £40.16. Work out what a year of hygiene visits and whitening would cost you each way to see which suits you. When whitening comes with Invisalign or a bonding package, it's already inside that written, fixed fee, so there's nothing more to pay for it.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.