Teeth Whitening Cost Calculator

By Dr. Sage Wells · ✓ Prices from a 50-state cost survey, checked against 5 systematic reviews · Updated September 2026

How this calculator works

The prices come from the most recent national survey of whitening costs, run by ASQ360° for CareCredit across all 50 states and Washington, DC, in 2023 and 2024. It reports averages and typical ranges for Zoom and laser whitening, a range for take-home kits supplied by a dentist, and a starting price for drugstore products. No newer national survey has been published, so these are the figures the calculator uses, and what you are quoted in 2026 may be somewhat higher.

Your state changes the estimate using that state’s average laser price relative to the national average of $792, applied to every dentist-provided method. Drugstore products are sold at national prices, so they are not adjusted. That is an assumption: the survey only broke laser prices down by state, and other methods may not vary in exactly the same way. Heavy staining assumes a second chairside session or a longer home course. Treat the result as a budgeting range and ask a dentist for an itemized quote.

No calculator can replace an exam. Surface stains from coffee, tea, wine or smoking respond well to bleaching. Stains inside the tooth, from tetracycline, trauma or fluorosis, often do not, and a dentist may suggest bonding or veneers instead. Whitening also does not change the color of crowns or fillings, and gum disease or cavities should be treated first.

Teeth whitening costs: the full table

Source: CareCredit / ASQ360° national cost survey, 2023 to 2024. For scale, a widely sold kit, Crest 3D Whitestrips Professional Effects, sells for about $35 to $46 at major US retailers. KöR deep bleaching is priced practice by practice and no national survey reports it, so it is not in the calculator; ask for a written quote.

Zoom teeth whitening cost

Zoom is the best-known chairside system: the dentist protects your gums, paints a hydrogen peroxide gel onto the teeth and activates it with a blue LED light, usually in a single visit. The national survey puts the average at $583, with most practices charging between $463 and $1,011.

Before comparing quotes, check what each one includes. Some practices bundle a take-home touch-up kit or custom trays with the chairside session and others charge for them separately, which can explain a gap of a few hundred dollars between two offices quoting “Zoom”.

Laser teeth whitening cost

Laser whitening works the same way as Zoom, a bleaching gel applied in the chair, with a laser in place of the LED light. It is the most expensive option in the survey: an average of $792 and a typical range of $611 to $1,368, which is $209 more than Zoom on average.

Where you live moves the price more than most people expect. The survey’s state averages for laser whitening run from $679 in West Virginia to $1,129 in Hawaii, a difference of 66 percent for the same treatment:

Selected states from the CareCredit / ASQ360° survey. The calculator above uses all 50 states and DC.

In-office teeth whitening cost

In-office whitening means any treatment done in the dental chair in one visit, which in practice is Zoom, laser, or a similar light-activated system. Across those two methods the survey range is $463 to $1,368. You are paying for speed and supervision: a dentist applies a much stronger gel than any home product, protects your gums while it works, and the visit can take as little as 30 minutes. Home kits get there more slowly, over days to weeks.

Is the light worth paying for? What the trials say

Zoom and laser are both sold on the light. The research on that light is consistent, and it is the most useful thing to know before choosing between them.

• The light does not make teeth whiter. A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis in the Journal of Dentistry compared in-office bleaching gels used with and without light and found the light did not improve the color change, whether the gel was high or low in hydrogen peroxide. A 2019 meta-analysis of 20 studies in Operative Dentistry reached the same result for color. It did find that pain from sensitivity was somewhat milder with a light.
• Doing both does not whiten more. A 2019 meta-analysis compared an in-office session plus take-home trays against either one alone. The combination did not produce whiter teeth than either, and trays alone caused less sensitivity than the combination. The quality of that evidence was graded low.
• Dentist trays beat strips, strips are gentler. A 2020 meta-analysis of 20 studies found trays with gel from a dentist whitened more than strips, while strips caused less sensitivity. A 2024 network meta-analysis of 37 studies and 1,932 people found drugstore products worked better than placebo in the short term, with 6 percent hydrogen peroxide strips used for at least 14 hours among the most effective.

So the practical order is this. If you need results in one visit, say before an event, an in-office session is what you are paying for, and nothing in these reviews suggests the laser buys extra shades over Zoom. If you can wait a few weeks, a take-home kit from your dentist costs less and is not outperformed by the chair. If your staining is mild, strips are a reasonable first step.

What actually changes your price

The method you choose

Chairside treatments cost the most because they use the dentist’s time and a high-concentration gel in a controlled setting, with results in one visit. Take-home kits cost less because the dentist supplies the trays and gel once and you whiten at home. Drugstore strips are the cheapest and use weaker gel.

Where you live

Dental prices follow local costs. In the survey, the average laser whitening price in Hawaii, Washington DC, California and Massachusetts was 22 to 43 percent above the national average, while much of the South and Midwest sat below it. Choose your state in the calculator to see the adjustment.

Your stain type and depth

Light surface stains often need a single session or a short home course. Heavy, long-term staining may need a second chairside session or a longer home course. Stains inside the tooth from tetracycline, trauma or fluorosis often do not respond to bleaching at all, which is worth confirming before you pay.

Touch-ups

Whitening is not permanent, and how quickly teeth restain depends mostly on coffee, tea, red wine and tobacco. Keeping your trays from a dentist-supplied kit makes touch-ups far cheaper than repeating a chairside session.

How to pay less without cutting corners

Dental insurance does not cover whitening, and the IRS does not allow teeth whitening as a medical expense, so HSA and FSA funds cannot be used for it. Plan to pay the full price yourself. Then:

• Skip the combination package unless you need one-visit speed and long-term trays. The trials found no extra whitening from doing both.
• Choose Zoom over laser if you want a chairside result. It averages $209 less and the evidence does not show the laser whitening more.
• Ask for an itemized quote that says whether trays or a touch-up kit are included.
• Consider a take-home kit from your dentist if you can wait a few weeks.
• Try an ADA-accepted strip product first if your staining is mild.
• Check dental schools near you, which often offer supervised treatment at lower prices.

If you are straightening your teeth, you may be able to whiten at the same time: see whitening your teeth while using aligners, and compare aligner prices with the Invisalign vs braces cost calculator.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources & References