A healthy tooth always whitens better — that's the reason for the exam, not a way of padding the bill.
No hidden extras, no gimmicks — here's exactly what whitening costs and what's actually included. Boutique Whitening starts at £385 for a straightforward case, rising to £600 for more complex cases, which can include internal bleaching where needed. Every course starts with a free consultation and 3D scan.
Why We Use Boutique, and Nothing Else
Boutique Whitening is manufactured in the UK under medical-grade regulation — dentist-prescribed, CE-marked, batch-controlled, and clinically tested. That matters because not all whitening is equal, even when the packaging looks similar.
Dentist-supervised whitening uses stabilised, pH-balanced gel at a known concentration — 6% hydrogen peroxide for day whitening, or 10–16% carbamide peroxide for night whitening — fitted with custom trays and monitored throughout. Over-the-counter kits are legally capped at 0.1% peroxide, which is why they're mild, patchy, and short-lived by comparison.
Beauty salons and similar aren't legally permitted to use peroxide above 0.1% either. Where "instant whitening" is promised outside a dental setting, it's either ineffective or it's using something it shouldn't be. Whitening is safe when a dentist does it. It isn't automatically safe done anywhere else.
Day or Night
Day whitening involves wearing trays for 60–90 minutes at a time — fast, convenient, good for mild staining or a top-up before an event. Night whitening uses a gentler concentration worn overnight, better suited to sensitive teeth or deeper, older staining, and tends to give a more even lift over a slightly longer course.
Your Timeline
The first few days bring a subtle shift as staining compounds start breaking down, and some sensitivity is normal and settles quickly. By around a week you'll usually see a clear one to three shade lift. Most patients reach their natural brightest shade somewhere between one and two weeks, with an optional boosting phase after that for deeper staining.
Whitening Myths, Quickly
Whitening doesn't damage or thin enamel — it changes how light behaves within the tooth, not the tooth's structure. Laser whitening isn't stronger, just temporarily dehydrating, which fades. Light-activated systems don't add anything the gel isn't already doing on its own. And whitening doesn't whiten fillings, crowns, or veneers — only natural enamel responds, which is why we often refresh a composite or two afterwards to match the new shade.
Who Shouldn't Whiten
Whitening isn't right for everyone. Active gum disease, untreated decay, severe erosion, pregnancy or breastfeeding, very high sensitivity, and active oral lichen planus are all reasons we'd pause and talk through alternatives first. All of this gets checked at the free consultation, not discovered halfway through a course.
Why You Need an Exam First, Even If You've Had One Recently
By UK law, whitening gel above 0.1% peroxide requires a dental examination before use. That's true even if you've seen another dentist recently — it isn't second-guessing them, it's the legal and clinical responsibility that comes with prescribing a regulated product. A healthy tooth always whitens better, which is the actual reason for the exam, not a way of padding the bill.
What's Included in the Free Consultation
A conversation with our Treatment Coordinator team, a digital scan, shade mapping, a sensitivity check, a straightforward day-versus-night discussion, and an exact cost breakdown before you commit to anything.