10 Best Teeth Whiteners 2024 in the United States

People go to great lengths to achieve white teeth. If you smoke, or regularly drink red wine, coffee, or tea, your teeth may discolor over time. There are a number of professional treatments that can remove stains that have accumulated over the years. However, if you suffer from tooth sensitivity or receding gums, a professional treatment might not be possible. There are natural treatments, employing toothpaste with activated charcoal or baking soda, which are relatively safe, and do a good job of removing stains from the outer layer of the teeth, on the enamel. But, for more stubborn stains that have penetrated to the dentin, a peroxide treatment might be necessary.

There are whitening strips that you apply to the front teeth, which employ a gel with either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide. For a more intense treatment, there are also mouth trays that fit over your teeth. You apply a small amount of whitening gel inside the mouth trays, and wear them much like a pair of dentures. The whitening substance releases oxygen, which reacts with the staining material on the teeth and breaks it down. These mouth tray kits might also employ a LED UV light that activates the peroxide and speeds up the process. Depending on the product, and the extent of the staining on your teeth, you will have to repeat the treatment several times for desired results. But you’ll have to consider whether tooth sensitivity, and if there are any risks involved.

To take all of these considerations into account, we’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting a teeth whitener.  It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of teeth whitener,

• See useful tips about the particular types of teeth whiteners,

• Read reviews of some of the best teeth whiteners, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of a teeth whitener, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

In ascending levels of effectiveness, there are tooth whitening kinds of toothpaste, tooth whitening strips, and kits that apply whitening gel by means of mouth trays:

• Toothpaste with mouthwash rinses: These are more for preventing stain build-up, although they are also effective in removing superficial stains on the enamel. Examples include Crest 3D White Luxe Glamorous White Toothpaste and Crest 3D White MultiCare Whitening Rinse. The toothpaste employs hydrated silica as a mild abrasive to remove surface stains. Other whitening toothpaste employs calcium or magnesium carbonate. There are also types of toothpaste with activated charcoal such as those by Cali White or Active Wow. Activated charcoal works by attaching to rough areas on your teeth, such as the plaque on your teeth that cause yellowing and stains. So, even though it makes your teeth black as coal while you use it, the activated charcoal actually goes a long way in getting your teeth whiter.

Crest Whitening Toothpaste

Active Wow Activated Charcoal Toothpaste

• Strips: These are flexible strips that you attach to your teeth for a few minutes a day. Some examples are Crest’s 3D White Whitening Glamorous White, and Crest 3D White Whitestrips Professional Effects. Also, EverWhite Whitening Strips adhere to your front teeth and can produce whitening effects for up to 12 months.

EverWhite Whitening Strips

• Whitening trays: Whitening strips have a bit of a disadvantage, in that they don’t manage to remove stains between teeth. For this purpose, there are whitening kits, such as Bright Light made by Pearl Enterprises, that employ whitening trays that are made from a special thermoform plastic.

Bright Light Whitening Trays

These are the steps involved:

1. 1. You boil some water and pour it into a glass.

   2. Place the thermoform plastic tray in the boiling water, until it starts to soften.

   3. You then insert the tray in your mouth, and bite on it. The plastic tray then fits your teeth.

   4. You take a syringe containing the whitening gel and inject ¼ - ½ cc of whitening gel in the tray.

   5. Spread the whitening gel so that it will be able to come in contact with your front four teeth.

   6. Trim the trays with scissors, so that the plastic will not extend above the gum line.

   7. Insert the trays into your mouth. The time for a whitening session will depend on the concentration of the gel. If the gel has 45% carbamide peroxide, a whitening session can be as short as 15-20 minutes. If the concentration is weaker, such as 16%, it will require a longer session of 45-60 minutes.

   8. Some kits also employ an LED accelerator light, which makes the peroxide gel react more quickly.

   9. After applying the gel, brush and floss out any remaining gel, so as to avoid making the teeth too sensitive.

   10. Check your product for how many times you should repeat the treatment. The USA Whitening Kit suggests using it for 2-4 nights consecutively and repeating the treatment after 6 months or a year subsequently.

LED Accelerator Light with Magic Bright Whitening Trays

• Whitening Water Flossers: There are also water flossers that allow you to add a stain remover to the flosser’s reservoir. Flossing this was can remove 25% more stains. An example of such a product is the Waterpik Whitening Professional Water Flosser (Model WF-05).

Waterpik Whitening Professional Water Flosser (Model WF-05)

• Results with Crest Whitestrips: The Crest Whitestrips are a more mild whitening method, that you definitely should consider before employing whitening trays. Some people who had accumulated 5 years of tobacco or coffee stains on their teeth started to see results with the Crest Whitestrips in as few as 10 days!

• Blotchiness: You might suffer from stubborn spots on the teeth that refuse to go away. Customers suggest being patient and performing a few more whitening applications. Also, some companies make a whitening pen, that can be applied to the stubborn stains. For example, Colgate makes the Optic White Toothbrush and Whitening Pen, that can get results on tough spots in as few as two applications.

Colgate Optic White Toothbrush and Whitening Pen

• VITA shade guide: There are actually 16 different shades of teeth, known as the VITA Classical A1-D4 shade guide. The Pearl Enterprises kit includes the VITA shade guide inside. People who use the Cali White Teeth Whitening kit saw a change of 8 shades lighter teeth after 10 treatments of 10-30 minutes each. A professional whitening will try to achieve a uniform whitening to all your teeth:

1. A1-A4: reddish-brownish

2. B1-B4: reddish-yellowish

3. C1-C4: gray shades

4. D2-D4: reddish-gray

• Certain stains will not be affected: Even a professional whitening will not be able to effect any change in certain chronic yellowing, such as yellowing due to tetracycline use.  Also, whiteners will not work on crowns, bridges, bondings, or fillings.

• Sensitivity: If you suffer from sensitive teeth, the whitening gel might make the sensitivity worse. If so, it’s recommended to use lower concentrations at first, such as gels with only 16% or 22% carbamide peroxide, and work up to greater concentrations later.

• Expiration date: There should be an expiration date on the syringes of whitening gel. They are usually good for 1 year without refrigeration, and for 2 years when refrigerated. The plastic of the syringe tends to break down if the syringe is any older than that.

• Adding minerals to teeth: For people who suffer from sensitive teeth, there are also products that add minerals to the enamel on the teeth. It’s recommended to apply these remineralization gels, containing calcium or phosphate fluoride, after a whitening.

Remineralization Gel by Florida Labs

• Crest is a brand of toothpaste and tooth care products from Procter & Gamble. Their toothpaste formula was originally developed in 1955. They presently make toothpaste, mouthwashes, Whitestrips, treatments for gums and sensitive teeth, and more.
• Cali White is a health and beauty products company based in California, founded in 2009. They market a wide line of natural teeth whitening products, such as activated charcoal toothpaste, teeth whitening strips, and teeth whitening gel.
• Pearl Enterprises make teeth whitening kits, as well as anti-snoring solutions. They manufacture teeth whitening toothpaste, 3D teeth whitening strips, as well as a whitening kit with an accelerator light.
• Florida Laboratories are makers of health and beauty products, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They make a teeth whitening kit, using carbamide peroxide gel in syringes, remineralization gel, charcoal activated gel syringes, thermoforming mouth trays, and more.
• Active Wow makes a number of teeth and beauty products. They make activated coconut charcoal toothpaste, as well as bentonite for remineralizing teeth, and orange seed oil for smoothing the teeth, and teeth whitening kit. They also make salt scrubs, skin gels,  and more.