Brighten Your Smile with Teeth Whitening!

The great majority of Americans today desire a whiter smile. It seems our addiction to a bright, beautiful smile will never be satisfied, especially if you still suffer from deep-set stains on your teeth from years of eating and drinking staining foods and drinks. No matter how often you brush your teeth, even with the best whitening toothpaste on the market, you will never be able to lift off deep stains on your teeth; in order to remove these little pests, it is necessary to use a deeper whitening process. Not all teeth whitening procedures are made equal! Let’s go over some options:

Whitening Toothpaste & Mouthwashes

There are more and more whitening toothpaste and mouthwashes hitting the shelves every day. These are very helpful to remove lighter stains and prevent future stains from drinking coffee or any other tooth-staining liquid. Unfortunately, they just won’t cut it when it comes to a real noticeable color change. You might see a couple shades of difference, which is a nice addition to your regular routine, but if you want a drastically whiter smile, something else might be in order.

Self-Whitening Strips vs. In-office Teeth Whitening

There are a number of brands and different types of whitening strips on the shelves that can offer a variety of different results. Generally speaking, a brand will offer “bottom-of-the-barrel” whitening strips all the way to a “super-premium” strip that usually will claim to be as good as an in-office whitening procedure. When it comes to this kind of strip, you can more or less expect to get what you pay for. If you select a package with more strips that you will use more often or for a longer period of time, and the adhesive on the strips are high quality, you can see a real drastic change in your smile. However, they still don’t measure up to an in-office cleaning for one reason: the medium of application.

A whitening strip is usually comprised of similar ingredients to an in-office whitening solution. However, a gel or paste that is used in the office and applied by a professional will more evenly and more effectively whiten your teeth. Strips are known to have trouble holding themselves to your teeth in every crease and crevice, therefore lowering their effectiveness at providing a brighter shade that is completely even.