Over the last decade, there has been an explosion in the number of teeth whitening products available over the counter. These products can give you a bright, white smile at a fraction of the cost of dental whitening procedures. If you want the best teeth whitening products, opt for those that contain peroxide. The selection of over-the-counter products are a vast market, but products such as whitening rinses, dental strips, teeth whitening pens and trays all contain some concentration of peroxide. All these methods use oxidation to whiten the teeth and offer you quick long lasting results for a good price.

The painting or pen method of teeth whitening entails painting each tooth with a peroxide-based bleaching gel. This may not be the best teeth whitening product because you have to paint each tooth individually, which can be time consuming, but it is effective. You apply the gel to the tooth and then allow it to dry and form an invisible film. Generally, you paint the gel on twice a day and leave it on for at least 30 minutes, but some products instruct you to leave the gel on overnight. The gel contains carbamide peroxide, which acts as the active bleaching ingredient.

Teeth whitening strips are made of polyethylene, which is a type of plastic that is thin and flexible. A hydrogen peroxide bleaching agent coats the active side of the strip. The strips adhere to the teeth and you wear them for 30 minutes a day, twice a day for two weeks. One aspect of the whitening strips that make them of the best teeth whitening products is the dose of peroxide in each strip is consistent. This makes the product easy to use and difficult to misuse. The strips were made as an alternative to the teeth whitening trays, and results seem to suggest they are just as effective as the trays.

Trays and rinses are both at different spectrum of whitening methods. While both contain peroxide as a bleaching agent, the trays contain a gel that you wear on the teeth for 30 minutes, twice day, and you swish the rinses in your mouth for about 60 second before regular brushing. The trays offer the best results as the rinses take up to three months to see results and the trays offer results in only two weeks. It seems the trays are one of the best teeth whitening products when compared to the rinses. If you are in no hurry, the rinses are good as they offer protection against bad breath and gingivitis as well.