Here are a number of options available for people who are interested in whitening their teeth.

1. Teeth whitening – what are your options?
In this day and age, looks seem to be more important than ever. This
is evidenced by the fact that the health and beauty industry is worth
billions each year. One of the most common things that people want
to change about the appearance is the colour of their teeth,
particularly when there is excessive staining.
With so many celebrities sporting perfectly white smiles, this of course
has an impact on the overall culture and makes a lot of people feel
self-conscious if they have stained teeth. Yellowing of teeth is down to
a combination of the natural aging process, genetics, diet as well as
factors such as smoking. For people who are interested in whitening
their teeth, there are a number of options available. This include -
 Home whitening kits – There are many home whitening kits
available on the market but their effectiveness is questionable at
best. A lot of people find that they’re fiddly to use and don’t
provide the results they were hoping for. There’s also the
question of safety when using a home whitening kit since it’s
easy for people to ignore the instructions to try and get better
results.
 Whitening toothpastes – Another option available is the range
of ‘whitening’ toothpastes that are on the market. These vary in
effectiveness but in truth, anyone looking to go from yellowing
teeth to a sparkling white smile is going to disappointed. Whilst
they can remove some staining and provide protection against
further staining, whitening toothpastes, in most cases, are not
powerful enough to provide the level of whitening that most
people desire.
 Cosmetic dental treatment – The last, and by far best option is
to get your teeth whitened professionally, either by a dentist or
beauty salon that has qualified dental staff. Professional teeth
whitening can be done in one of a couple of ways. The first is to
use bleaching gel.
The dentist will take an impression of your teeth in order to
make a mouthguard for you to wear at home. You then apply the
bleaching gel to the mouthguard and wear it for the amount of
time instructed until the desired results are achieved. The
second option is laser whitening. Although this technique still
uses bleaching gel, a laser is shone onto your teeth to activate
the whitening properties and thus speed up the process. This
treatment takes around 1 hour.

2. Is it possible to get teeth whitening done on the NHS?
Teeth whitening NHS services are only available when there is a
medical reason that you need it. For example, if one or more of your
teeth have become discoloured because the nerve has died. For purely
cosmetic reasons however, you’ll need to get treatment done privately.