The 4 Best At-Home Teeth Whitening Trays - Smile Prep (2024)

Table of Contents

#1: Best Overall Kit: BURST Whitening Trays

BURST Whitening Trays are one of the most powerful at-home treatments out there. But despite having a higher hydrogen peroxide concentration than many at-home treatments, their whitening gel doesn’t cause sensitivity for most people thanks to its specialized formula.

As pre-filled trays, they come prepared with the perfect amount of gel, making the process more convenient. Plus, they only require 15 minutes per session, and they don’t have a strong peroxide flavor like some other treatments. If you’re looking for a whitening treatment that boasts a stellar balance of effectiveness and comfort, it’s tough to beat BURST.

Advantages

• BURST trays have a 12.5% concentration of hydrogen peroxide — which is fairly powerful for an at-home treatment.
• BURST’s formula includes xylitol and potassium hydroxide, which both help reduce or eliminate sensitivity. If you already have highly sensitive teeth, you might still feel a little discomfort, but most people won’t have any.
• Since BURST uses pre-filled trays, you don’t need to measure out the perfect amount and use syringes, which can get messy.
• BURST Whitening Trays contain peppermint oil and xylitol, which help mask the flavor of hydrogen peroxide.

Disadvantages

• The trays aren’t customized to your teeth, so they might not fit as snugly as personalized ones. It might feel slightly uncomfortable, but you only need to leave them in for 15 minutes, so it isn’t a major issue.
• Since BURST’s trays aren’t reusable, you’ll need to purchase a new kit anytime you want to do a whitening session. With reusable trays, you only need to buy whitening refills for future treatments.

#2: Professional-Grade Power: Opalescence Go

Opalescence is a leading provider of professional teeth whitening. Opalescence Go takes their proprietary gel — which is formulated to stick to the teeth and oxidize stains without burning soft tissues — and puts it in pre-filled trays.

The beauty of Opalescence Go is its blend of effectiveness and convenience. Their whitening gel is powerful — these are professional kits that were designed for use in dental offices but are now available to consumers. And they’re incredibly simple to use. You just pop them in, suck them against your teeth, and remove the outer shell. No measuring gel, no cleaning trays, and no fighting to get strips in place. It’s about as simple as teeth whitening gets.

Advantages

• Worried about measuring enough gel to whiten but not so much that it gets on your gums? Opalescence Go trays come pre-filled with the perfect amount of gel, and the formula is specifically designed to prevent it from spreading and reaching the gums.
• Each tray lasts for a single use, so you don’t need to clean them after your sessions. Just pull them out and toss them in the trash.
• You get two choices of hydrogen peroxide concentration — either 10% or 15% — so you can get the ideal strength for your whitening goals and level of tooth sensitivity. No matter which you choose, you are getting a high concentration that should work for most stains.
• Opalescence was designed for dental offices, not store shelves. This means professional authorities and dentists across the country trust it.
• Their gel comes in mint and melon flavors, which helps to mask the taste of the peroxide and gives you the chance to skip the typical toothpaste flavors and enjoy something new.

Disadvantages

• The price tag is a little steep when compared to most whitening tray kits. And unlike reusable trays, you can’t cut costs on your next round of whitening by just buying more gel.
• You can only get them in sets of ten or four. Since you will need to do maintenance treatments at some point, this means buying an entire kit even if you only need enough for one or two sessions.

#3: Most Affordable Customized Trays: Sporting Smiles

Professional whitening is the gold standard for brightening smiles. But professional at-home kits are generally pretty simple, with just two components: customized trays and whitening gel. Tailor-made by your dentist to fit your teeth perfectly, those trays help push the gel into the crevices of the teeth and offer complete coverage, ensuring the most even whitening possible.

Sporting Smiles lets you get customized trays without visiting the dentist. You just take your impressions and ship them to the company. You get to choose the whitening formula you want — 35% carbamide peroxide for their standard strength and 22% carbamide peroxide for sensitive teeth (carbamide peroxide is less potent than hydrogen peroxide). All you’ll need to do is measure out the right amount of gel each time and clean the trays after each use.

Advantages

• Custom trays are better at whitening than mass-produced ones. One-size-fits-all options can’t push the gel into the crevices between your teeth, leaving a yellow outline. Custom trays are shaped to cover all visible parts of the teeth, whitening them evenly.
• You have two options for your whitening gel: the standard formula or the sensitive one. Although the sensitive formula is a little weaker, it can still whiten your teeth effectively while making the entire experience more pleasant.
• Their gel foams when it contacts the teeth. This helps it penetrate the crevices and coats crooked teeth for a complete whitening effect.

Disadvantages

• While other Sporting Smiles products have lots of rave reviews online, their whitening kit hasn’t received a huge amount of independent feedback yet. We are confident in it just based on their track record as a company, but we’d feel better with more customer reviews.
• They only give three sets of putty — one for each arch and one in case you make a mistake. However, many people struggle with this step and another set or two would be nice.

#4: Most Customizable: Smile Brilliant

Sporting Smiles may be the most affordable direct-to-consumer customized whitening tray kit, but it isn’t the only option available. Smile Brilliant also offers tailor-made trays, and they also provide more options for customization.

Smile Brilliant gives you the option to choose their sensitive kit or their standard one — not something every company offers, but also not that novel. However, it also lets you customize your purchase based on how stained your teeth are. The heavier your staining, the more vials of whitening gel you get. They also back their kits with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so if you’re unhappy with your experience, you’ll get a full refund.

Advantages

• Your custom trays perfectly match the shape and orientation of your teeth. This helps the gel get between the teeth for a more complete whitening effect and also ensures crooked teeth get the same treatment as all the others.
• They can customize their kits based on the severity of your stains. This means you only pay for the amount of gel you need to reach your desired level of whiteness.
• They really stand behind their products, backing every kit with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. While many companies claim to offer these, there’s often a lot of fine print. However, Smile Brilliant really does offer a full refund if you use their kit and dislike the experience or results.
• They use fewer ingredients in their whitening formula than their competitors. This cuts down on potential reactions and also makes it easier to understand what’s in the gel. However, this simplicity does not sacrifice quality.

Disadvantages

• The price tag is pretty steep. The customized trays might make it seem worth it, but you can get the same thing from a competitor for much less.
• Their whitening sessions are meant to last three hours. The first few sessions won’t be that long, but you are supposed to build up to it quickly, and that is a significant time investment.

Frequently Asked Questions