What Are Custom Whitening Trays, Actually?
Custom whitening trays are thin, flexible mouthguards moulded to the exact shape of your teeth. They hold professional whitening gel against your tooth surfaces during your at-home sessions, giving you controlled, even whitening.
The reason they work so much better than generic pharmacy trays is the fit. A perfectly-fitted tray keeps gel exactly where it needs to be — in contact with the tooth, not leaking onto your gums. Generic trays allow gel to seep out, cause irritation, and deliver patchy results. Custom trays don’t.
Where Are They Actually Made?
This is what most people don’t know: custom whitening trays aren’t made at your dental clinic. They’re made at a dental laboratory.
When you get trays from your dentist, here’s the actual process: the dentist takes an impression of your teeth, sends it to a dental lab, the lab makes the trays, and the dentist collects and hands them to you with some gel. The practice adds their margin on top. That’s how you end up at $500-$800.
At The White Smile Company, we do the same thing. Impression > NZ dental lab > custom trays > professional gel included. The difference? We charge $250 — or just $150 when you combine with a laser whitening session.
Same lab type. Same ADA and FDA approved materials. Same product. Different price.
Why Can We Offer Them Cheaper?
Because we specialise exclusively in teeth whitening.
Dental practices carry significant overhead across dozens of treatment types. When you pay for trays at a dental practice, part of what you’re paying for is all of that infrastructure.
We do one thing: whiten teeth. We’ve done it for over 20 years and carried out more than 40,000 treatments. That focus keeps our overheads low — and we pass those savings directly on to you.
The Best of Both: Laser + Custom Trays
For the best possible whitening result, combine laser whitening with custom trays.
Laser whitening ($230) gives you an immediate transformation — up to 16 shades whiter in 60 minutes. Custom trays (just $150 when combined) let you boost that result further at home and maintain your bright smile for years without repeat laser sessions.
Total combo: $380. Compare that to what a Christchurch dental practice would charge for laser plus trays — typically $1,000 or more.