Is Whitening Your Teeth at a Mall Kiosk Safe?

Say, you know what we Bostonists do when our teeth are looking a little dull from all that chain-smoking and cola-drinking? We head on down to the CambridgeSide Galleria for a little in-mall-kiosk teeth-whitening party! No matter that dental experts are concerned about the practice, or that mall teeth-whitening kiosks aren't regulated in any way, we need to spruce up our smiles immediately, and in the cheapest way possible. Since we don't have dental insurance (and any insurance we did have probably wouldn't cover a cosmetic endeavor anyway), the mall is our one-stop shop for smile enhancement. Kiosk tenders claim that their service uses less intense whitening power than dentists, but WBZ found that the mall carts offered services using up to 35 percent carbamide peroxide gel. You can buy this online if you want—for cheaper than the reported $100/session the mall dentists charge—but does that mean it's a good idea to put it on your teeth? [For comparison, over-the-counter Crest Whitestrips contain up to 10% hydrogen peroxide (the main component of carbamide peroxide).] It's not necessarily dangerous to bleach that much, but is it (dangerously) necessary? If mall whitening works for you, great, but we'd rather buy stuff at the mall than bleach body parts there, and work on being happy with our not-quite-pristine chompers.