How much do professional teeth whitening treatments cost? / What kind of whitening results can you expect?

How much can the professional tooth bleaching treatments provided by a dentist cost?
Here is a ballpark cost range for what a dentist might charge for a single professional teeth whitening treatment. In some cases more than one treatment might be needed.
$400 to $900
As with any elective cosmetic procedure where the nature of the perceived value of the treatment is often very subjective, you can expect that the prices quoted for professional teeth whitening services will vary widely between dental offices. In some offices, in some localities, the fee for in-office whitening will no doubt exceed our high-end estimate by a significant margin.
Some dentists feel that their in-office bleaching treatments should be followed up with the use of an at-home whitener. If so, you can expect that there will be an additional cost for this additional treatment.
A patient's costs might lie at the lower end of the price range stated above in those instances where a significant portion of the treatment process is performed by a staff member rather than solely the dentist. As another consideration, those dentists who incorporate an "activation" light or laser into the whitening process will have higher equipment costs than those who don't. These dentists will need to charge a relatively higher fee for their whitening treatments.
What kind of whitening result can be expected with professional teeth whitening treatments?
There is no question that in the majority of cases teeth whitening treatments utilizing a peroxide-based bleaching agent will produce results. As we stated previously however, the level of whitening obtained from the professional bleaching treatments that your dentist performs is on par and similar in nature to those results you could achieve with a tray-based at-home teeth whitening system. The big advantage of professional whitening treatments is not the degree of lightening but the fact that you will experience the whitening effect immediately.