Just blocks from the City of Los Angeles, on a quiet street in “The Heart of Screenland" sits the building that houses the labs of Discus Dental. Scientists in Discuss Dental developed the first product for tooth whitening. Their many improvements on that product aided the emergence of one hour teeth whitening.

Robert Hayman took the first step toward the founding of Discus Dental when he met Dr. William Putman at a conference, a conference attended by medical professionals who planned to help residents of Los Angeles travel through the final decade of the 20th Century. Putman and Hayman combined their knowledge of the human jaw and their knowledge of chemistry to make teeth whitening products.

The first product released by Discus Dental was named Nite White. It used the traditional chemistry for teeth whitening, but it was packaged in a new way, a way that invited use of the product. As more and more customers saw and tried Nite White, the public’s desire for teeth whitening products began to grow.

Since the release of Nite White in 1991, a number of refinements have enhanced the speed and effectiveness of the products produced by Discus Dental. Discus Dental now offers products that allow a dentist to perform Zoom Whitening. Zoom Whitening takes place within a one hour period.

The scientists at Discus Dental knew how to whiten teeth. They studied how to make the whitening process happen faster. They then developed a pH balanced hydrogen peroxide. That pH balanced hydrogen peroxide can be activated by a special “Zoom light." The activated product whitens the teeth in just one hour.

Once scientists and investors together realized that teeth whitening products could be real money makers, Discus Dental soon had a number of competitors. In the area of one hour teeth whitening, a chief competitor to Discus Dental is the company that promises performance of the Brite Smile technique.

Brite Smile uses a product that is 9.5% hydrogen peroxide. In addition to hydrogen peroxide the Brite Smile whitening products contain amorphous calcium phosphate. The amorphous calcium phosphate speeds the tooth whitening process. Calcium phosphate precipitates during the whitening process; that precipitate then remineralizes any demineralized teeth.

Brite Smile now has centers in 15 different US cities. The professionals working at those centers activate their teeth whitening product with a blue light. The activated product bleaches the teeth in just one hour.

The bleaching of teeth involves a bleaching of the enamel on the teeth. Where teeth have no enamel, the bleaching products do not work. Areas of the teeth where the enamel is very thick tend to become white much faster than the areas with thin enamel.

Claims for “one hour teeth whitening" might be challenged by some people. Not every ethnic group has tooth enamel that is as thick as the enamel on Caucasian teeth. Today’s “one hour teeth whitening" has been designed to work fast on Caucasian teeth. An Asian, who has thinner enamel, might require a longer treatment.

Still, the traditional teeth whitening techniques relied heavily on bleaching. The refined techniques have added onto the attributes of bleaching. Studies have not yet been released that compare the rate at which calcium phosphate precipitates on Caucasian, African-American and Asian teeth.

The amorphous calcium phosphate in the Brite Smile product is what gives that product its ability to act so quickly. The bleaching is accompanied by a remineralization of demineralized teeth. Does that remineralization take place at the same speed in all ethnic groups? That question remains unanswered.

Perhaps an effort that is directed at finding the answer to that question will lead to development of even faster teeth whitening techniques.