Anyone paying attention to the market will have noticed the growing popularity of teeth whitening services, and you might have spotted the potential for a teeth whitening business in your own local market. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, then this guide is for you. Here, we’re going to look at a whole host of different factors to consider when building a teeth whitening business and, most importantly, how to make a success out of it.
We’ll break down this post in two main sections, Part 1 will be all about the business of professional teeth whitening and Part 2 will be how to actually do the whitenings in a professional way.
First, let’s take a look at everything you have to set up to ensure that you have a business that is ready and licensed to start providing whitening treatments.
Depending on where you are setting up, there are going to be different regulations that you have to follow to ensure that you are qualified to open up a teeth whitening business. In some states, such as Texas, there is currently no need for a dental license to be able to operate a professional teeth whitening program.
Meanwhile, In Florida, dental hygienists can provide whitening treatments, but dental assistants cannot. In California, only registered dental professionals can perform whitening services. D.C., Nevada, and Tennessee have policies in place that prohibit the service by individuals other than dental personnel. Such policies are also pending in Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Take the time to check what regulations apply in your state, or where you’re based in Canada and the UK. Each state or area has its own stance, and this matter is a rapidly evolving one, too.
If you have an existing business that you want to add teeth whitening services to, you should skip the section. Otherwise, you are going to need the following to set up a teeth whitening business:
Regardless of whether you’re opening a new business or expanding your business to include teeth whitening services, you’re going to have a whole new financial status quo that you have to manage. Establishing a budget can help you quickly get on top of your business finances, and help you manage your cash flow, effectively, better enabling you to avoid financial projects in the future.
Setting a monthly budget
In order to plan a budget effectively, you have to know your costs inside and out. Take the time to analyze your costs, including fixed costs, and variable costs, and update it month-by-month. If any one-time or unexpected costs come along, make sure that they’re included too. From your rent to salaries to the services and software you pay for, they should all be in here. If you have to estimate, it’s better to overestimate than underestimate. Do the same for all of your income, so that you have a clear comparison of what is going in vs. what is going out.
Establishing budgetary goals
Your first budget should be a look at how your finances currently stand. After that, however, you may want to set goals on how you can change your budget. This can include decreasing your outgoings or increasing your incoming money. You can look at reducing unnecessary spending now, or find strategies to be able to scale back your costs in the event of uncertain economic times.
Managing your expenses
Regardless of your goals, keeping an eye on your expenses is vital. You want to make sure that they never start climbing too high. You can do this in a number of ways, from working out which costs you can cut, to negotiating with your suppliers or consolidating services or software with one provider to reduce costs instead of going with a range of different providers.
The price of the services provided by your teeth whitening business is going to depend on a range of factors, such as your location, the specific kind of teeth whitening you offer, and more. It’s important to price effectively, striking the balance between having a profitable service and remaining affordable enough for your target market to be able to pay for your services, but you also have to consider the market that you’re in.
There is no comprehensive data on what different offices charge for their dental whitening services. As such, we’ve compiled a range of whitening offices in the country, and how much they say their services cost
If you want to know where to set your own prices to work within your own market, then it’s a good idea to research the costs of the nearest teeth whitening providers in your own area.
Nowadays, most modern businesses are going to require a range of technologies to run and grow their operations, and that’s no different for teeth whitening businesses, either. Especially if you want to create a clean and efficient customer experience when shopping or booking appointments. Here, we’re going to quickly run down some options and what they can do for you:
Which software you decide to rely on depends on your own priorities, though many of the above have real benefits to offer any size of teeth whitening business.
The teeth whitening process can be fairly daunting for someone that doesn’t have much experience or knowledge about dentistry so we broke down over a decade of experience into a comprehensive guide on how you can learn to do professional teeth whitening without any prior knowledge.
Let’s start with the basics: what exactly is teeth whitening?
Teeth whitening is a cosmetic dental procedure that aims to whiten teeth. It does this by essentially bleaching your teeth to remove stains, producing a naturally white tooth color.
But how exactly do our teeth stain in the first place?
There are a number of ways. For starters, there’s demineralization. This refers to the loss of minerals in teeth such as calcium and phosphate from our tooth enamel. This enamel can slowly be stripped away depending on the types of food and drink that you consume. Bacteria in the mouth can also lead to demineralization. When this occurs, the enamel becomes weak and it increases the chance of decay and staining.
Speaking of decay, this is another form of damage. This is often referred to as dental caries or cavities and happens when the enamel on our teeth is eroded, leading to damage. While this does change the appearance of our teeth, it’s not something that whitening typically deals with as it’s actual damage to the tooth and not just staining.
And this is where we get two different types of staining: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic stains occur due to physical damage to the teeth. Extrinsic stains are from substances like tea and coffee, and thus is the main target of whitening agents.
Due to the presence of both intrinsic and extrinsic stains, it’s essential to check the mouth of your client before bleaching their teeth. The bleaching process can only really help if they have extrinsic stains. If they are intrinsic, they will likely need to be referred to a dentist to help with issues like decay. If you’re unable to tell the difference, whitening could provide zero benefit which leads to unsatisfied customers! The good news is the vast majority of teeth staining that people have is extrinsic and therefore are great candidates for teeth whitening as those stains can be removed and results can be achieved in 1-2 sessions.
A teeth whitening business can be seen as a clinic. As such, you’re going to need a bunch of different things.
First, you want an office where you can discuss teeth whitening with your patients. This will include basic things like a desk, comfortable chairs, a few decorations to make the place more inviting and comfortable, and also computers to manage your business. The exact things you’ll want to buy are going to depend on the overall design and feeling of your teeth whitening business, so it helps to work together with a designer if you want it to stand out.
Next, you’ll need supplies for whitening.
The first supply you’ll need is a whitening gel. The most popular two variations contain hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide as active bleaching agents. The amount of peroxide in the gels usually varies from concentrations of 6% up to 40%. The purpose of different concentrations is to tailor the
Whitening lights are also required. The purpose of the light is to help break down the gel, speeding up the chemical reaction which allows it to quickly penetrate the enamel. We highly recommend both Beyond and Zoom as our personal whitening lights of choice. It’s very important when choosing a light solution that you do not buy lower quality brands that dont have a strong enough light (Halogen or LED) to properly activate the whitening gel.
Now that we’ve gone through the basics of teeth whitening and the equipment needed, we’re going to talk about how the process works and what you personally need to do. There’s a lot to learn here, but thankfully we’ve got a full Whitening Training Doc that you can read through at your leisure. It includes a step-by-step process of how the appointments will go so that you know exactly what to do.
But to give a general summary, here’s what happens:
Before any teeth whitening occurs, it’s important to have a general consultation and ask questions. This includes things like if they’ve had teeth whitening before, what their results were like if so, and also answering any questions they might have. It’s very important to state that teeth whitening doesn't last forever and should generally be accompanied by better dental habits to ensure a long-lasting effect.
In addition, you should ask to look at the patient’s teeth to check for any signs of decay or damage that cannot be treated with whitening alone. If you attempt to whiten a patient’s teeth that are physically damaged, then it will lead to poor results and unhappy clients. During the consultation this is also a great time to take “before” photos so you can show them the before and after results once their treatment is complete.
First, we start with the preparation. This includes setting up a mouth tray on the patient which will give you a clear view of their teeth and gums to help you apply the gels. You’ll also want to prepare your own equipment, such as the gels being used and their related syringes. In the case of peroxide, you’ll want to use them with special tips that make it easy to apply the gel, and also a gingival barrier that protects the gums from the gel.
The patient will also need a few things to keep comfortable, such as eyewear protection when you start using the whitening lights, and also a bib to protect their clothing during the process.
A general teeth whitening procedure will go as follows:
It’s a good time to now double-check that you are using the correct teeth whitening solutions.
At the end of the procedure, you’ll want to take everything out of the patient’s mouth step-by-step, starting with the gel.
Post Whitening Care
This is an often overlooked part of the whitening process that many professional whitening offices get wrong. There are 2 main areas to look out for.
This is something that you’ll run through with your patient before the appointment is booked. You have a responsibility to tell them that tooth sensitivity due to decay or receding gums can potentially cause issues with teeth whitening. As such, you may want to adjust to using a weaker teeth whitening gel to achieve good results without triggering their sensitive gums and teeth.
Similarly, you should tell your patient about the potential dangers of peroxide-based whitening gels. If these come in contact with gum tissue or skin, it can lead to burns and other uncomfortable sensations.
That’s all folks, hope you found this informative and have at least a baseline knowledge of how to start your own professional teeth whitening business and make money doing something you love.