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This brush on whitening technique is one of the most popular whitening methods around for the fact that it's just so simple to use. This inexpensive technique can be used at home, and they are very safe to administer. All you have to do is brush the whitening agent onto your teeth and leave it on for the recommended length of time.

This will vary from product to product, and some brush on whiteners will need to be left on overnight. This technique won't be able to provide you with the same results as the stronger bleaching based kits can achieve, but this option is still popular among many users due to the low costs involved.

Carbamide peroxide is now used in most home treatment and DIY teeth whitening products on the market. The peroxide is a lot milder than the hydrogen peroxide most dentists will use, which makes this chemical ideal for safe home use.

Cabamide does still use hydrogen peroxide as one of it's main ingredients,but at a much lower strength. The lower grade peroxide works in exactly the same way as it's stronger counterpart, and oxidises the stains to help the teeth appear much much whiter.

Dentin is the large hardened yellow area of your tooth that sits just underneath the enamel. The main purpose of the dentin is to help to protect the sensitive middle part of your tooth. Dentin is mineral based, and it needs to be taken care of to help maintain the good health of your teeth. Because your dentin is naturally yellow in colour, this will have an effect on the whiteness of your teeth.

The enamel that covers your tooth is translucent, allowing the colour of the dentin to show through underneath. Dentists are unable to affect the natural colour of your dentin. So, if you have a particularly dark, or yellow dentin, you may never be able to achieve the tooth shade you want.

Sensitive teeth is a problem for many people, and for this reason there are now a wide range of tooth desensitizing products available to help counter the pain caused by overly sensitive teeth. The types of toothpaste and gel products can help with everyday pain from eating hot or cold foods, chewing and drinking, but they can also be useful when it comes to teeth whitening.

These kinds of products are commonly recommended to those with sensitive or overly painful teeth before and after any teeth whitening treatments.

Enamel is the outer most part of the teeth, and it's very very strong and hard. Although enamel is tough, tooth decay can wear it away, and cause damage to the outer part of your tooth. It's the enamel that is primarily affected in the tooth whitening process.

The outer shell is translucent, and the dentin can usually be seen thorough the enamel. If the inner tooth is unhealthy, this can usually be seen through the enamel, and cause problems in the whitening process.

There are now a wide variety of DIY whitening kits that can be easily used at home. The ingredients are not as strong as the bleaching agents your dentist would use, making them ideal and very safe for home use.

These kits will often use a much milder bleaching agent, but they are often still able to produce some excellent whitening results. Home bleaching can be anything from a simple whitening toothpaste to custom made whitening trays and whitening strip kits.

Hydrogen peroxide Is one of the weaker acids, and is now commonly used to aid in teeth whitening proceedures. The acid has very effective oxidising abilities that make it perfect for bleeching and whitening. The acid is used in all walks of life, anything from bleeching the hair to disinfecting.

In-office will often refer to the kinds of whitening treatments that are on offer at your local dentist. Your treatment will be carried out by a trained dental practitioner, and they will usually use stronger and more effective bleaching agents and techniques to achieve your desired tooth colour.

These will either be in the form of bleaching, deep bleaching or light activated bleaching treatments. These kinds of treatments are often far more effective than DIY or home kits, and you can expect to improve the colour of your teeth by any number of shades.

This new teeth whitening approach teams a bleaching agent with light based whitening technology. The light isn't actually a laser, instead your teeth with either be exposed to UV or LED lights.

It's thought that these kinds of lights help to activate the bleaching agents further. Light will be directed onto the darkest areas of your smile to help remove these difficult stains.

There are more and more over the counter teeth whitening products on the market than ever before. These home DIY kits, gels, strips and pastes are extremely popular, and work out a lot cheaper than a professional whitening from your dentist. These 'over ther counter' products are available everywhere from your local dentist, and you can even now pick them up at your local pharmacy.

These kinds of products use a lower grade peroxide, which means that they are totally safe and suitable for home use. Although, they're often not as effective as professional based whitening procedures, you can still expect to significantly lighten and whiten your teeth. Helping you to achieve an even brighter smile without having to spend an arm and a leg.

All whitening and toothpaste products should have their very own RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasivity) rating. This rating will tell you just how abrasive to your teeth your chosen product is. Basically the higher the RDA rating, the more abrasive your product is to your teeth. Teeth whitening gel and pastes that have a RDA of less than 200 are the best products to go for, otherwise your chosen product may be too harsh for your teeth. Check your label before you purchase any home whitening product to see if it come in under that 200 mark. Those who suffer from sensitive teeth should go for whitening aids that have a lower RDA, as this may cause temporary pain and discomfort.

Some people may find that they suffer from sensitive teeth after their teeth whitening procedure. Most find that the problem is caused mainly by the varying temperature of the foods that they eat. As hot and both cold foods can be the cause of this temporary sensitivity.

The stronger the bleach, the more sensitive your teeth may become. Some patients have found that they've actually experienced pains in their teeth during the procedures (Zingers). If you suffer from sensitive teeth, you have cracks in your teeth or your gums have receded, you may experience more pain and discomfort during and after your bleaching than others.

If you do experience any kind of sensitivity trouble during or after your treatment, you should try using specialist sensitive teeth products and pastes to help reduce the discomfort. The pain in the majority of cases is very short lived, and you teeth should go back to normal after a day or so.

The shade guide is the tool most dentists and dental practitioners will use to help determine the shade of your teeth. Teeth are usually either categorised into four sections brown, yellow, grey and grey/red. You simply match your current tooth colour to the colours shown in the shade guide. This is easily done, but you may find that some areas of your smile are a little darker than others.

Using the shade guide will help you to identify what colour your teeth currently are, as well as showing you what new shade you'll be able to achieve with a professional or home whitening procedure.

This abrasive is now use in many toothpastes, as it helps to whiten the teeth by wearing away any external staining on your teeth.

There are two main types of stains that your teeth will develop. The extrinsic kind are those that show up on the surface the teeth. Extrinsic based stains are far easier to remove than the intrinsic kind (inner tooth staining), and home and DIY bleaching techniques will usually be able to remove the majority of these stains in just one sitting. But, it's not just harsh bleaching that can help with this kinds of minor stains. Whitening tooth pastes, everyday cleaning and good dental hygiene can also help to remove and reduce these kinds of surface based stains and improve tooth colour.

There are two main types of stains that your teeth will develop over time. The intrinsic kind are those that occur inside the teeth. These kinds of stains will be caused by a problem with the tooth and will begin to show through the outer shell of the tooth (enamel).

These kinds of stains are harder to treat than the extrinsic stains that occur on the outside of the tooth. Professional deep bleaching is usually the best way of dealing with these kinds of internal stains, as regular bleaching may not be able to tackle the most stained areas and patches.

Technicolour teeth basically means that you're left with different coloured teeth after your whitening session. In most cases the difference in colour or shade is only very slight, and this effect is commonly caused by an uneven coverage of the gel or whitening strips.

If you or your dentist do not apply the bleaching agent to you entire tooth, then you may be left with a variety of shades in your smile. Another common reason for this effect is when dental work such as bonding or crowns have not been affected by the whitening agents, and remain their original colour. This can create an uneven look, with your dental work being a few shades darker than your newly whitened teeth.

If however you're using DIY kits make sure that you cover your entire teeth with your chosen whitening agent. Be sure to avoid using whitening strips that are too short for your teeth otherwise you could be left with a technicolour smile.

Abrasive cleaning of the teeth is achieve with the use of specialist tooth pastes and gels. The pastes that use silica as a main ingredient are the most effective for this kind of cleaning. This technique is used to remove the top layer of surface stains, but has little effect on those deeper skins. In some cases a small amount of enamel will also be removed during this cleaning process. For this reason, some dentists do not recommend this form of cleaning to all patients, due to it's aggressive nature.

There is a common side effect that comes along with most kinds of teeth whitening procedures, and this is tooth dehydration. Those who opt for the light based treatments will often find that are the most affected by tooth dehydration.

This dehydration takes place because most whitening agents cause the water inside the teeth and surrounding gums to evaporate. When a tooth is dehydrated it will always appear much whiter than when the tooth and gum retains water. After a day or so, both the tooth and dental tissues will return to their normal hydration levels, but it's at this point that the tooth may begin to appear slightly darker.

Tooth dehydration is common with all kinds of whitening techniques, but it's only the deep bleaching whitening methods that can help the teeth to continue to remain whiter once the tooth and the surround tissue and gums have been fully re-hydrated.

Your teeth aren't transparent, but the enamel that sits on top of your teeth is translucent. This means that light is able to travel through the surface, and you're able to see what's sitting underneath the enamel. When it comes to whitening your teeth, the thicker your teeth and enamel, and the less transparent they are the better. Teeth of this kind are much easier to bleach, and often look a lot whiter and healthy as a result.

Unfortunately, if your teeth are very translucent and thin, the harder they are to whiten. This is because the yellow dentin that sits below the enamel is easily viable, as teeth whitening isn't able to change the colour of your dentin.

The undertone of you teeth is the base colour of your teeth. These range all the way from pale yellow to even the most darkest greys and browns. When it comes to your undertone, the lighter yours is the better. If you undertone colour is yellow, then you're far more likely to see better results than someone who has a brown, or even worse grey undertone.

Speak to you local dentist or dental practitioner to find out more about your undertone colour, and how responsive your teeth are likely be to a whitening treatment.

There are now a wide range of whitening toothpastes available. You'll find everything from the regular store brands all the way up to the more powerful and abrasive pastes and gels on the market.

Many of the most popular whitening toothpastes use an abrasive such as silica to help remove the external stains from the teeth, giving you a whiter smile.

These DIY whitening strips are among the most popular home whitening treatments around. This product basically consists of long flexible strips that the user attaches to their teeth. On one side of the strip there will be a whitening agent that will come into contact with your teeth.

You have to be careful with whitening strips, and make sure that they are not only long enough for your teeth, but they are correctly placed and covering your teeth. Your strips will then press into place, and left there for the recommended length of time (see you individual product for details).

In your kit you may find that there are two individually shaped strips. One is to be secured on your top row of teeth, whilst the other is attach to the bottom row, be sure that you place the right strips on the correct row.

These home kits will rarely achieve the same level of results as the strong more effective in-office procedures. But, you're sure to see a noticeable difference for a relatively small amount of money.

Just like the whitening strips, DIY whitening trays are a popular home solution to teeth whitening. Rather than placing the strips along your teeth, you'll instead be placing your teeth into a specially made tray.

Before you start your treatment you'll often need to boil your mouth tray in water and place it firmly into you mouth. This works in a very similar way to a gum shield, and when you bit down, the malleable tray will mould to the shape of your teeth and gums.

In the next part of the process you'll usually have to inject your whitening solution into you newly moulded mouth tray. Next, you simply pop your tray into your mouth, and wear as instructed (be sure to carefully read the instructions for the amount of time you'll need to keep you whitening tray in for).

With most whitening kits, you'll need to repeat the process several times over a number of days/weeks. This will help you to achieve your desired shade gradually, and they step by step process will help to radically reduce the risk of tooth sensitivity and discomfort.

The term zingers is often used to describe the pain experienced during a whitening session or treatment. This is a very minor side effect of the whitening process and the pain is usually only temporary. This side effect is most common if the patient is being treated with a strong bleaching agent. Home treatments such as strips and whitening trays will rarely cause any kind of pain or discomfort.

Those with healthy teeth will rarely experience any pain from teeth whitening. But, some users find that a whitening session may cause shooting pains in their teeth and gums during and sometime after the whitening session. If you have any existing teeth, gum or sensitivity issues you're far more likely to encounter this kind of problem. Sensitive toothpastes and gels can help to relive this pain if used before an after a whitening treatment.