A beautiful smile is priceless. Great looking teeth can help boost your self-esteem and make you appear younger. For that reason alone tooth whitening is among the most popular cosmetic procedure performed in dental offices today. Tooth whitening can help lift discolorations that result from excessive coffee, tea or wine consumption. Whitening can remove natural or artificial discolorations from you teeth. The best news? You don't have to be a millionaire to get your teeth whitened. In fact, there are products available to fit just about every budget.

Tooth Whitening Gels and Toothpastes
Gels and toothpastes that whiten your teeth are the least expensive choice when it comes to teeth whitening. A tube of toothpaste will cost you less than $10 is most cases. Most tooth whitening gels and toothpastes contain hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide helps brighten your smile by bleaching teeth. The higher the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the better the product will work. Teeth whitening gels generally work better than toothpastes. Most teeth whitening toothpastes don't actually contain active ingredients that help whiten your teeth. However they will help remove daily stains that result from food consumptions.

Bleaching Strips
Bleaching strips and other products that whiten teeth like Crest white strips are another affordable and easy way to brighten your smile. "White strips" as they are called usually help whiten teeth without the hassles associated with trays full of gel. Most of the time all you have to do is apply the strips roughly 30 minutes two times every day. These products tend to work fast, with results evident within one to two weeks of daily use. Some people start to see results within the first couple of days of treatment. You can wear strips while bathing, watching TV, driving to work or even reading the morning paper.

Some people using strips may experience tooth sensitivity. If this happens you can reduce your applications to once per day. Normally this is a temporary side effect that will stop once you discontinue using the white strips. Tooth whitening strips will only help remove discolorations on the surface of teeth. Thus if discolorations are the result of other factors you may need a more aggressive tooth whitening procedure. Of course the results of teeth whitening are not permanent, that is of course if you continue to drink coffee, tea, smoke or engage in other activities that discolor teeth with time. Fortunately however you can usually apply a touch up treatment at a later date to combat future discolorations.

Bleaching Teeth
Bleaching is one of the most popular ways to brighten your smile. There are multiple bleaching choices available on the market, including use of gels containing hydrogen peroxide. You can also opt to have bleaching done at a dentist's office. Your dentist can make a custom tray that fits your mouths impression. That way the tray will fit more snugly on your teeth and the bleaching may be more effective.

You can also purchase a product from Direct White that offers the same high quality bleaching a dentist would. This service creates custom bleaching trays for you and guarantees the same results you'd get from your dentist in 4 days or less. This product is much less expensive than a trip to the dentist. The bleaching gel in these professional strength products contains 10% solution of carbamide peroxide.

Laser Tooth Whitening
Laser tooth whitening is often considered a top of the line cosmetic treatment for bleaching teeth. Your dentist will have to perform this procedure. The procedure itself involves application of a clear bleaching gel to your teeth. A special light causes crystals in the gel to absorb energy coming from the laser light. This in turn penetrates your tooth enamel resulting in whitening. Usually this procedure takes two or more hours to complete. Laser tooth whitening is not an inexpensive choice however. The average cost is roughly $600, but may be more or less depending on multiple factors. Laser treatments usually also have to be repeated once or twice every year. So unless you plan on making a hefty investment, this may not be your best choice.