Do Whitening Toothpastes Work?

If you want to whiten your teeth but expensive whitening treatments are out of the question, then try a whitening toothpaste. They are an inexpensive treatment, but do they actually work?

Understanding Whitening Toothpastes

Whitening toothpastes have been designed to keep your teeth white over a short period of time. By using them twice daily, you should start to see results within one week (depending of course on the brand of toothpaste used). Many top companies have whitening toothpastes including Aquafresh, Colgate and Crest. So do they work and how exactly do they work?

Afraid your toothpaste isn't keeping your teeth as white as they could be?  Want to be sure your teeth don't look dingy?  Click Here!

First you need to understand how your teeth become stained. Many people assume that all stains on their teeth are on the enamel. However, while stains such as tea, coffee and yellowing that comes from smoking may stain the enamel, there are other layers of the teeth that can also become discolored. The dentin is the inner layer of our teeth and that tends to yellow over time as we age.

Whitening toothpastes are designed to clean your teeth and to whiten stains that are situated on the enamel only. So if you have discoloration in any layer of your teeth other than the enamel, then whitening toothpaste will not make any difference to it. In fact, there are even times when whitening toothpastes could actually make inner layer stains more noticeable.

Are Whitening Toothpastes Safe?

One thing that you have to take into account with whitening toothpastes is that the ingredients that they contain are not always completely safe to use. They have to be quite powerful so that they can remove stains. Unfortunately this sometimes means that they can damage the enamel of your teeth in the process. To avoid damage caused by whitening toothpastes you should never use them for prolonged periods of time. However, many whitening toothpastes are designed to be used on a daily basis, it means that you do have to use them regularly permanently if you are to see desired results.

So Do They Actually Work?

So do whitening toothpastes actually work? There is a lot of debate as to whether they do have any effectiveness in removing stains. Many experts claim that brushing twice a day with any whitening toothpaste will not make any difference to your teeth. This is because the ingredients that they use are not always overly effective. They are designed simply to minimize the risk of teeth becoming stained and they will not remove existing stains.

However, there are some toothpastes out there that can make a difference. Brushing twice a day with any toothpaste will minimize the chances of plaque building up; hence it prevents stains from occurring. They also contain ingredients that will get rid of stains on the enamel, but these ingredients remain on your teeth only a short length of time.

Overall whitening toothpastes can work, but they are not the best teeth whitening treatment available. If you do not have hundreds of dollars available to pay for whitening treatments then whitening toothpastes are definitely worth trying out; you just shouldn't expect dramatic results!

Want to have a smile you can be proud of?  Click Here!