Tooth Whitening Toothpaste


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Every year, more and more brands are marketing new whitening toothpastes as many people crave the “Hollywood smile” that they see in magazines and on the television. If you would like to eliminate the discolouration from your teeth and possibly make them whiter, you have a vast selection of toothpastes to help you on your journey.

Your options depend on whether you would like a natural, organic toothpaste or maybe a faster action one. Perhaps you would like a fluoride-free toothpaste or one that is also effective to relieve sensitive teeth of pain. Whatever you decide, there are numerous options available to you. Many brands that specialise in tooth whitening, such as Janina, Beverly Hills Formula and Go Smile, further subcategorise their toothpastes into options that sooth sensitive teeth or protect against cavities.


As we age our teeth have a tendency to lose their natural colour and gradually become discoloured and stained. Whitening toothpastes are a relatively recent dental innovation which can be used to lighten your teeth's natural colour without having to go through a professional cleaning or whitening system or having to resort to dental veneers. Although whitening toothpastes take longer to work than professional whitening treatments, they can produce significant results over a longer period of time.

Whitening toothpastes are comprised of a number of strong abrasives and chemicals which are specially designed to remove stains occurring on your tooth's outermost layer and are unable to treat stains or discolouration which occurs in the inner layers of a tooth. In order to treat such stains you may have to undergo a professional whitening treatment. If used over an extended period of time, there is a danger that whitening toothpastes may begin to erode your tooth enamel.

Tooth Stains

Your teeth have inner and outer layers. The innermost layer is made from a hard material known as dentin. This material is comprised of a number of hollow channels penetrating from the core of the tooth to the outer layer, the enamel. This is the outermost layer which protects your teeth from day to day wear and tear. However, as you consume food and drink, another layer, known as the pellicle film, is slowly formed over the enamel. It is this film which leads to staining and certain foods and drinks have been shown to exacerbate stains or discolouration, these include coffee, tea and red wine amongst others.

Whilst stains on the outer layer (extrinsic stains) can be easily cleaned by brushing, scraping or through use of chemicals, stains occurring on the inner tooth (intrinsic stains) are much more difficult to control. Intrinsic stains form inside your tooth and can be seen from the outside. As your enamel is porous, these stains form on the inner layers and cannot be scraped or scoured off and so whitening toothpaste or other cosmetic procedures must be used.

Preventing Stains

Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to minimise the risk of staining. Your diet plays a huge role in the health of your teeth and certain foods are much more likely to produce stains than others. The most common foods thought to cause stains are; coffee, tea, red wine, fiy drinks, citrus fruit juices and vinegar. If you smoke then you should strongly consider quitting, not only will smoking play a big part in the formation of stains it also has a huge impact on your general oral health. The grinding of teeth (bruxism) also has the potential to cause cracks in your teeth which can often be a precursor to stains. Similarly, trauma or damage to the teeth may also produce cracks.

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