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You see and hear about tooth whitening everywhere, in the paper, magazines, on the radio, and on TV.  Laser whitening, light activated whitening, take home whitening kits, whitening strips, whitening toothpastes, are all different ways that you can whiten your teeth.  But, there are significant differences between the different methods, and different end results.  Here I will break them down one by one, in a 4 part series, so that you can choose which is best for you.

First, we need a bit of background though.  There are two main types of tooth whitening gels that are used in a variety of the whitening techniques.  They are Hydrogen Peroxide and Carbamide peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is generally used for short applications, such as a 1 hour session, and comes in ranges from 5%-20% (at home) and 20%-50% (in office) gels.  Carbamide peroxide, similarly, comes in a range of strengths for different uses, but tends to be used for longer periods, like overnight use, as it breaks down to form hydrogen peroxide.

This 4 part series, over the next week or so, will be on these topics:

1) In-office professional tooth whitening (PearlinBrite Laser Whitening, Zoom, BriteSmile, etc)

2) At-home gels (carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide with custom trays)

3) At-home OTC products (White strips, prefab trays, etc)

4) Whitening toothpastes (PearlinBrite, Crest, Colgate)

Stay tuned for part 1 in the next few days!