The Best Whitening Toothpaste

a dental hygienist's whitening toothpaste review

Teeth whitening products are everywhere. Many toothpastes claim to whiten, brighten, or extreme whiten your teeth.

Here's the part that may be misleading: whitening toothpastes remove surface stains from your teeth and make stained teeth whiter.

Some teeth are just yellow or discolored and don't have surface stains. Whitening toothpastes won't change the color of those teeth.

If your teeth have surface stains from smoking or drinking coffee, tea, or sodas, a whitening toothpaste might help. But, teeth that are yellow or discolored won't get whiter from using a whitening toothpaste.

For discolored teeth there are other ways to whiten your teeth. Whitening strips, whitening trays, or a professional whitening procedure will improve the color of your teeth.

Got surface stain?

The stain removing ingredient is the grit or abrasiveness in your toothpaste. Whitening toothpaste manufacturers use a variety of ingredients in toothpaste to add grit.

About whitening toothpaste with extra grit: They remove stain but don't remove dental plaque better than non abrasive toothpastes. Plaque is more harmful to your teeth and gums than stain. Plaque causes cavities and gum disease. Stain is not pretty, but is mostly harmless to your teeth and gums. Using a toothpaste with too much grit can damage your teeth.

Here's how to know if your toothpaste is too abrasive.

RDA Value

Most toothpastes don't include the RDA on the label, but it is easy to find by calling the consumer contact number on your favorite toothpaste.

Here is the RDA table:

• 0-70 low abrasive
• 70-100 medium abrasive
• 100-150 highly abrasive
• 150-250 harmful

Here are the RDA values of some toothpastes:

• Arm & Hammer Dental Care 35
• Oxyfresh 45
• Tom’s of Maine Sensitive toothpaste 49
• Arm & Hammer Peroxicare 49
• Rembrandt Original 53
• Closys toothpaste 53
• Colgate Total 70
• Sensodyne toothpaste 79
• Tom’s of Maine Regular 93
• Crest toothpaste Regular 95
• Mentadent toothpaste 103
• Crest Extra Whitening 130
• Ultra Brite 132
• Pepsodent toothpaste 150
• Crest pro-health toothpaste 189
• Pearl Drops toothpaste Extra 227
• Topol toothpaste Spearmint 256
• Topol toothpaste Peppermint 276

What should you do?

Find out the RDA of your toothpaste.

If you love one of the more abrasive toothpastes, don't use it every day. Try alternating it with a non abrasive toothpaste.

Plain baking soda has an RDA value of 7...very safe! Try dipping your wet toothbrush in baking soda and brush the stained areas of your teeth. The taste? Well...it's not minty fresh and takes a little getting used to, but it works for some stains and won't harm your enamel.

Don't use Topol toothpaste or Pearl drops toothpaste they will do more harm than good. Abrasive toothpastes will remove stain but they also remove enamel and shine from your teeth over time.

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