Have you ever felt inadequate when faced with a multitude of perfect people appearing on television and print? Has advertising ever caused you to reassess your appearance? Did you known that most of these images have been digitally enhanced? Have the constant exposition of brilliant white smiles made you think about having teeth whitening treatment?

Just four simple questions but the answers will tell us a great deal about how we feel about ourselves and how we would like to appear to others. One of the most important factors effecting the way in which people perceive us is the appearance of our face. Nearly everyone would willingly admit that they would like some improvement to their face such as younger looking skin. However one of the most important and most highly visible features of the face is our teeth and having a radiant smile can make a world of difference hence the massive interest in teeth whitening products.

The reason that they are called 'Hollywood smiles' is that virtually anybody who wants to be somebody in Hollywood has extensive cosmetic surgery including dental work to make their teeth perfectly aligned and pure white. Well these guys often have plenty of cash to have such improvements made to their appearance. Many of the pictures we see in the glossy monthly magazines contain photographs of plenty of other people with the body perfect, gleaming white smile and beautiful skin but, in the vast majority of cases, these images have been 'Photoshoped' enhanced and manipulated to make the person look thinner with spots, acne and other skin blemishes removed and the teeth whitened and the whites of the eyes made brighter and the color increased.

The most basic classification of teeth whitening treatment is home whitening and profession teeth whitening treatments but these methods can be used solitary or together. Below you will see some of the various techniques practiced today.

Bleaching is one of the most common ways in which teeth whitening can be carried out but there are actually a few different types of teeth whitening techniques involving the use of a bleaching agent. These types range from over-the-counter kits available in the shops to professional tooth bleaching. Home bleaching, laser bleaching and combined bleaching are some of the most popular ways to whiten teeth.

Home bleaching can be done in a number of ways. The easiest, but often the least effective and the one involving most risk, ways to whiten teeth at home is by using an over-the-counter (OTC) preparation. These kits contain a weak hydrogen peroxide gel which is applied to the teeth and left for around half an hour. The most effective home bleaching utilizes materials supplied by your dentist a bleaching gel and a rubber mouth tray are provided. The gel is much stronger that OTC gels and the mouth tray ensures that the gel stays in contact with the teeth.

Professional teeth whitening is carried out in the dental surgery by a suitably qualified cosmetic dentist. Obviously, under such conditions, far more powerful bleaching agents can be used. One of the most common types are those that are 'light activated' where a special light is used to enhance the whitening process.

When the two methods above are used together the home treatment is often carried out prior to the treatment in the surgery. Furthermore it is common for people to bleach their teeth, at regular intervals, at home following a pro treatment so that they can leave it longer between trips to the dental surgery. This approach is referred to as 'combined teeth whitening'.

A different approach is taken for the treatment called internal bleaching. As the name suggests it is the interior of the tooth that is whitened in this treatment so it is common to include one of the above treatment to bleach the exterior surface of the tooth. In this treatment a bleaching agent is injected into the tooth and allowed to work for a week before it is removed and the entry point permanently sealed.