Best Whitening Toothpaste – What To Look For
Why You Can’t Believe Everything You Read
It seems like a simple enough question: What is the best whitening toothpaste? This is actually a somewhat difficult question to frame because there are different answers depending on what one is looking for. The manufacturers and brand advertising will often mince words because in principle, any toothpaste helps brighten your teeth with normal use so any could claim to be the “best whitening toothpaste” simply by claiming to be the best paste in general, even if it has no special additional bleaching chemicals or properties. However, as the prospective customer, this is not what we are looking for.
Which Toothpaste Whitens Teeth The Best?
It should be clear that a toothpaste claiming to be the best, or even just a whitening toothpaste, may just be part of the advertising and nothing more. What customers would really like to know is, what is the best toothpaste to whiten teeth? To answer this question we must consider both the ‘whitening factor’ and the ‘toothpaste factor’. In short, this product must still be an excellent toothpaste in general. The primary purpose, as a toothpaste, is always to effectively clean the teeth, while the secondary purpose is to provide additional whitener features. Unfortunately there is no single winner for this grand title.
The reasons for this are as follows. First, there are two main categories of teeth whitening: stain removal and general (shade) whitening. Every toothpaste will help with both types of teeth whitening but some products are designed primarily for one or the other. When looking for your potential best whitening toothpaste, it is essential that you know what type of whitening you need. The second reason is that everyone’s body, lifestyle, and teeth are different. Consequently, the causes for teeth staining or darkening will be different, as will the solutions. Even the best brands have different strengths and ultimately it may come down to trying different products to find the one that works best for you. However, here are a number of consistently excellent contenders:
• Opalescence Plus
• Arm & Hammer Complete Care Extra Whitening
• Rembrandt Plus Peroxide
• Rembrandt Premium Extra Gentle
Finding The Best Whitening Toothpaste – What to Look For?
Here are several points to remember when looking for the best toothpaste to whiten your teeth:
• Know what type of whitening you need and what you want. E.g. stain removal, generally whiter shade, or maintaining your current shade from another whitening or bleaching treatment.
• Some people are sensitive to a number of the chemicals commonly used in whitening products (or even normal toothpastes). Knowing what ingredients you sensitive to will greatly simplify your search.
• Genuine teeth whitening toothpaste will list one or more ingredients that specifically help with whitening and/or stain removal. Some of these ingredients include: baking soda, calcium carbonate, silica, aluminum oxide, and peroxide.
• Remember the best whitening toothpaste is not just the one that makes your teeth the brightest. The ‘toothpaste factor’ is more important than the ‘whitening factor’. You must be looking for a product that you can use long-term to maintain healthy teeth without excessive irritation.
• Be patient. Even the strongest toothpaste is designed for long-term results so you may not notice any effects weeks or even months. If you want faster results then you will want to look into teeth whitening treatments that are stronger than toothpastes.
Remember that there is no universal best toothpaste. If one product works for someone you know but not for you then try a different product, don’t give up hope. However, if you are looking for a powerful tooth whitener solution, even the best whitening toothpaste is not the answer and you should consider stronger options such as strips (intermediate) or gel (most powerful).
