 Hello everybody, Andrea here with dental L. So I have been a dental professional for about 17 years. And if a patient is wondering about teeth whitening, they wanna make their teeth look whiter, they wanna get rid of stains. The question is what is the best product and what do different products do? In this video, I wanna talk to you guys about toothpaste. So teeth whitening toothpaste to be specific. These are just a couple examples, but there are so many on the market. So let me tell you what the teeth whitening toothpaste actually do and why they really don't do what they claim to do in most cases. So the best way to use a teeth whitening toothpaste, believe it or not, is if your teeth are already white. So if you've had them professionally whined at a dental office by a teeth whitening technician, even using a take home kit that was given to you by a dental professional, once the teeth are whiter, you have the shade you want, teeth whitening toothpaste are the way to go because what they will actually do is they will prevent more stains from coming back. So toothpaste and toothbrushing as a whole prevents stains from coming back because you're brushing off plaque, you're brushing off stain that might have happened. If stain is there for a week and then you try to brush that off, it's not going to work. So toothpaste, teeth whitening toothpaste, if you use them at least twice a day, even three times a day and make sure to brush well, you're taking away the plaque, you are taking away any stain that has happened from food you have eaten that day. So that's how whitening toothpaste work. But then to be a little more specific, what whitening toothpaste have that your regular toothpaste don't have is in most cases they will add a little bit of peroxide to that. So what does peroxide do? Peroxide to get technical, just basically foams up a little bit more and it does have very light whitening properties to them. Not enough to actually notice the difference but mind over matter, things are going to look whiter to you after you brush the teeth. You can't brush your teeth and then look at your teeth and think, oh, they still look dirty. You just can't because you're brushing away the plaque, the stain, all of that. But not all whitening toothpaste are made equal either. Some of them work better than others. If you're just looking at a basic company that says plus whitening, I tend to stay away from those because they can actually make the teeth very sensitive because for us to just add whitening to a regular toothpaste, all that means is there is additional baking soda. Baking soda is more coarse which in turn can make the teeth more sensitive because it is actually too coarse for your teeth. A proper whitening toothpaste like these two I love. They will not just add baking soda but they do have a little bit of peroxide. At least this one does. This one adds a little bit of carbomide peroxide but also has a desensitizing agent to it. This one does too. So they will not make the teeth sensitive. Remember, it's the baking soda that might be added to a toothpaste that is actually making the teeth sensitive. If you have cold sensitive teeth to begin with, you don't want baking soda added because it makes things more sensitive or at the very least it doesn't make things better. So be careful with that. Another common question is, is a whitening toothpaste going to make my teeth sensitive? No, in fact, in most cases, a proper whitening toothpaste will have something called silica added to it. Silica makes the teeth feel smoother and prevents further stain from coming in. So it's kind of like a protective coating in a way. So if you look for that, that's a proper whitening toothpaste. But then just kind of putting science aside, if I have a patient who doesn't like the look of their teeth but they don't want to invest in a professional whitening treatment, I'm going to offer them a toothpaste because a whitening toothpaste, because a whitening toothpaste will make their teeth look whiter. It's going to make them feel better. And if you tell your patient that if they brush well with a whitening toothpaste, it's going to make the teeth whiter, they're going to brush better. If they're brushing better, they have better oral hygiene, they have less plaque and that's going to make the teeth look whiter anyway. Do I use a whitening toothpaste? Yes, actually I use both of these. I kind of like to use a mix. They definitely make the teeth whiter, but I also get my teeth professionally whitened by myself quite often. I do like white teeth. I probably have my teeth whitened once every four or five months and then I maintain it with a whitening toothpaste, kind of like a good hair conditioner. If you get your hair colored and just use Walmart shampoo and conditioner, the color isn't going to stay as nice and as vibrant for that long, right? A whitening toothpaste is no different. If you're a dental professional, absolutely sell a whitening toothpaste along with their professional treatment. They will thank you. I like this one because it does come with a nice black toothbrush and it's like a charcoal-based toothpaste too. Everybody loves those charcoal toothpaste. Do not get the charcoal powder. Too coarse for the teeth, not meant for the teeth. I do have a whole separate video all about those trendy charcoal powders. Don't get them. If you want charcoal, I highly recommend this one. And just so you know, I am not being paid to advertise any products here. This is just what I personally use. I will leave the links for you guys down below. If you like, I hope that helps just to kind of give you guys some understanding of the whitening toothpaste and the different toothpaste out there and how they actually work. Comment below if there's any questions and I look forward to hearing from you guys. I will see you guys in the next video.