If you are looking to achieve a brighter, more confident smile but don’t want to spend a lot on dental procedures, getting your hands on good-quality teeth-whitening toothpaste can be an effective solution. While you won’t see dramatic results overnight, consistent use can lift the surface stains, making your teeth appear fresh.
However, if you use it too much, it might do more harm than good. The best bet is to focus on keeping your teeth healthy overall, as that can actually help keep stains from happening in the first place.
It’s totally normal for teeth to get a little discolored, so it’s important to keep your expectations in check when it comes to how your smile looks. If you’re thinking about whitening your teeth, here are some things to keep in mind when picking out the right whitening toothpaste.
Does whitening toothpaste work? Is it safe?
Most whitening toothpastes remove surface stains from teeth by using abrasives. While all toothpaste can be abrasive, too much scrubbing can harm your enamel, a protective outer coating that shields your teeth. Dr. Sarah Tavares, a dentist at Bentway Dental in Toronto, Canada, says whitening ingredients like silica and calcium carbonate can be especially rough. Other abrasives, such as baking soda and charcoal, can be more damaging.
Other whitening agents in some toothpastes or whitening strips contain chemical agents that bleach the teeth, such as hydrogen peroxide. These may be “generally safer” for your teeth than more abrasive ingredients, but Tavares said, “they can still cause gum irritation or sensitivity if overused or used improperly.
“To reduce the risk of enamel damage, limit the frequency of whitening treatments to a week at a time with good intervals in between,” she said.
What is the best whitening toothpaste overall?
We did not choose a single best whitening toothpaste because the ideal option depends on individual preferences and needs. Below, we have listed various types of whitening toothpaste based on dentist recommendations. However, if you have any questions, it’s best to consult your dental provider for personalized advice.
Best whitening toothpaste of 2025
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Colgate Optic White Pro Series toothpaste is one whitening toothpaste that Dr. Fatima Khan, a dentist in Houston, Texas, recommends. Some of her reasons for recommending it include its trusted brand name and its 5% hydrogen peroxide whitening agent. Unlike other whitening agents that work by removing stains on the surface of the tooth, hydrogen peroxide can get inside the tooth so it whitens intrinsically as well as extrinsically.
According to Khan, one downside to this toothpaste is that it contains sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS, which may cause irritation, such as canker sores. Other popular whitening toothpaste may also contain SLS, so it’s important to look at the ingredients before you buy a product if you’re sensitive to it.
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Crest Pro-Health Advanced Extra Whitening toothpaste is recommended by Dr. Elizabeth Himel, owner of Aspen Dental. This toothpaste whitens through hydrated silica, a mild abrasive. Crest is also a well-known brand with many products (quite a few of them marketed toward whitening), making this an approachable choice for many.