Whiter teeth and a straighter teeth are the ultimate smile beauty combination. Whiter teeth are right up there with straighter teeth on several people’s “Perfect Smile Checklist.” Getting a brighter smile has never been more fashionable, and it’s a favourite of the rich and famous. We figured we’d clear up a few things for you, because there are so many choices out there promising to give you the million-dollar smile. Continue reading to learn more about how successful these choices are, how long the effects will last, and more!

Your teeth-whitening choices

We’re all aware that coffee, red wine, and cigarettes are bad for our teeth’s colour. If it stains your white shirt, it’s likely to stain your teeth as well! So, the first step toward a whiter smile is to avoid the items mentioned above and to practise good oral hygiene. Brushing at least twice a day with an enamel-protecting toothpaste like RegenerateTM and flossing on a daily basis are recommended.

Now it’s time to whiten your teeth. The choices for whiter teeth on the market are very daunting, ranging from special toothpaste to whitening strips, blue light technology to charcoal powder. So, let’s break it down for you so you can see what’s going on.

1) Whitening Toothpaste

There are hundreds of toothpastes on the market that promise to whiten your teeth in a certain number of weeks, and some of them operate by using an abrasive to remove surface stains, while others can contain a very mild active ingredient for whitening. To some degree, all toothpastes do this, as a mild abrasive is needed to effectively clean and maintain your teeth. Whitening toothpastes use gentle polishing agents or chemicals in addition to the mild abrasive to remove additional stains. They can be effective at removing surface stains, but since active whitening ingredients are used in such small quantities, it’s unlikely that your tooth colour can lighten by more than one hue. Having said that, after using a more efficient whitening process, these toothpastes will help preserve a white smile.

2) Whitening Strips

Since the small strips contain a coating of peroxide bleaching gel that is very good at enhancing enamel colour, these are already a more effective teeth whitening solution. They’re easy to use, and the effects can last for months if you follow your usual oral hygiene routine. The strips are usually made of plastic and fit well with teeth that are straight. However, if the teeth are crooked or crowded, the strip won’t be able to stick to all of them correctly, resulting in uneven whitening. We want perfectly white teeth, so let’s move on…

3) The use of blue light

When LED light comes into contact with a peroxide whitening gel, the idea behind this process is that it can speed up teeth whitening.

For successful teeth whitening, there are two main components:

The gel that was used

The duration of the application.

The way your teeth whiten is determined by these two factors. The use of lamps, lasers, and lights has no effect on the whitening process.

“The use of light with bleaching treatment of teeth did not improve the effectiveness of bleaching or speed up the bleaching,” according to research.

So, what does it all mean? The same method used in whitening strips will boost the colour of your teeth if the blue light whitening kit includes a peroxide gel. The sun, on the other hand, plays no role in this operation.

4) Powdered Charcoal

Charcoal powder has swept the internet as an all-around beauty wonder in skin products, hair treatments, and, you guessed it, teeth whitening in the last year. Charcoal powder, like whitening toothpaste, is an abrasive that removes surface stains. It’s just a coarser abrasive than normal toothpaste, but it’s more harsh on stains.

It will only remove stains while causing damage to your enamel; the natural colour of your teeth will not improve.

5) Dentist-assisted bleaching

Peroxide gel is the secret to this option, as it is to the other successful teeth whitening methods.

The difference is that in order to produce drastic results in a limited period of time, the bleach dosage is much higher (usually about an hour).

The chlorine can be applied to your teeth by a dentist while you hold your mouth open. As a result, the gel covers all surfaces uniformly, resulting in uniform whitening (unlike the strips).

While this is a very efficient and relatively safe process, the high concentration of the gel can make your teeth very sensitive, and the short time the gel is on your teeth means it can’t penetrate for a deeper whitening, so it just raises the enamel colour.

The results can last for at least a year, if not longer, depending on how much you care for your teeth on a regular basis.