Teeth-whitening kiosks are opening in malls across the country. A bright light is used to dry the teeth while the peroxide-based gel is applied.

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SANTA ANA, Calif. — Want to bring home a brighter smile the next time you shop at the mall?

Entrepreneurs at many malls are eager to sit you down at their new teeth-whitening booths for 20-minute treatments that typically cost $49 to $99.

Their businesses are part of a countrywide expansion of teeth-whitening kiosks, which dentists greet with reactions varying from skepticism to outrage.

Some consumers who have sat at a kiosk for 20 minutes with a plastic tray full of peroxide gel in their mouths say they're happy with the results.

Others are unimpressed.

The kiosks provide basically the same bleaching process that consumers can get at a dentist's office or, for that matter, in many over-the-counter whiteners sold at pharmacies and supermarkets.

A key difference is that dentists can speed up the whitening action by using stronger concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, which is the chemical typically used to whiten teeth, said Dr. Edmond Hewlett, a professor at the UCLA School of Dentistry and adviser to the American Dental Association.

At lower concentrations, do-it-yourself whitening at home also is effective but can take longer, requiring weeks of repeated applications, Hewlett said.

At malls' teeth-whitening kiosks, the 20-minute treatment might not be enough to complete the whitening process because the peroxide used is typically no stronger than that in do-it-yourself kits, he suggested. But many of the kiosks, such as those that opened at Southern California malls within the past several months, have a satisfaction-guaranteed policy that can protect consumers from feeling ripped off.

Two recent visitors to the iSmile booth at the MainPlace mall in Santa Ana are representative customers — one satisfied, one not.

Paul Mondragon of Santa Ana, a clerk at the mall's Verizon booth, was pleased with what he saw in the mirror after his 20 minutes of treatment.

"I'm happy with it." he said. "My teeth were dark, and I hadn't been to the dentist in two years. It made a big difference."

His teeth turned several shades brighter, he said.

Kara Ham of Rancho Santa Margarita, a department store regional manager, said she noticed a small temporary improvement that soon vanished.

"My fiance didn't notice any change," she said. "No one was able to tell."

"I don't know if I'd do it again," Ham said. "My teeth were already fairly white on their own."

Hewlett said the temporary whitening that Ham experienced is common after teeth are exposed to a bright light such as the one that iSmile provides along with the peroxide gel.

Basically, the light dries out the teeth temporarily, and that makes them appear whiter, Hewlett said.

Many dentists also use a bright light as part of their whitening treatments, but researchers are divided about whether it actually has a long-lasting effect on the whiteness of the teeth, Hewlett said.

"It's a big bone of contention in the dental research community," he said.

"We know what peroxide does, but we don't know if light speeds it up."

That's true whether the light comes from an LED lamp, as in many mall kiosks, or from a laser, as in some dental offices, Hewlett said.

The typical prices that mall teeth-whitening services charge are substantially less than dentists' fees and can be slightly more costly than over-the-counter products.

Dentists often charge about $500 for brightening treatments, Hewlett said, while do-it-yourself whitening kits can cost $30 to $70.

The hydrogen peroxide concentration in dentists' treatments is usually about 5 percent, or much higher with gum protection, he said.

Over-the-counter products and those at kiosks typically contain no more than 3 percent peroxide.

Many teeth-whitening businesses are franchise operations, but those in Southern California are independent enterprises.

Teeth-whitening kiosks there have provoked little controversy, but that's not true everywhere.

In South Carolina, state regulators shut down a kiosk, declaring that the operators were practicing dentistry without a license. In North Carolina, the state dental board ruled that kiosks can remain in business if they're doing little more than providing a place to use the same products that a drugstore offers over the counter.

That's how iSmile works, according to owner Ricky Alam of Los Angeles, who has iSmile kiosks in Santa Ana and Valencia malls, along with Wetzel's Pretzels franchises in Los Angeles. "It's a simple over-the-counter product that people use at the mall instead of at home," he said.

The owner of the kiosks in Westminster and Brea malls agrees.

"We don't touch anybody's mouth," said Pearl-Brite kiosk owner Frank Calil of Corona. "We're supplying a self-applied process for the masses."

Each of his kiosks averages about 20 customers per day, so he's negotiating to expand his business to malls in Mission Viejo and Glendale, Calil said.