Home teeth whitening kits are a great alternative to paying $200 to over $1000 at a dentist for a professional bleaching, or laser-whitening procedure.

Most of us are drawn in by fancy products with pictures of perfect, bright white smiles on the box. But a little knowledge can really make the difference when choosing a home whitening product that actually “puts a smile on your face” instead of miserably disappointing you!

Top 6 Teeth Whitening Products

#1	Crest 3D White Luxe Whitestrips Professional Effects Teeth Whitening Kit	More Info
#2	Crest 3D White Professional Effects + 1 Hour Whitening Express	More Info
#3	Dr Song Professional Teeth Whitening Kit	More Info
#4	Crest “Supreme” Professional Whitestrips	More Info
#5	Opalescence Teeth Whitening Kit	More Info
#6	Rembrandt Intense Stain Disolving Strips	More Info

Benefits of Using a Home Teeth Whitening Kit

1. Lower Cost

Home whitening kits typically range from $20 – $60 and in most cases will give you professional-level results.

2. Fewer Hassles

Some people just don’t want to go to the dentist, sit in the waiting room for thirty minutes, then get strapped to a gurney with a bright light shining on their face and some strange contraption directed in their mouth.

3. Less Pain

There’s no sugar-coating the teeth whitening process: It can be painful! However, dentists use very strong peroxide that can leave you hurting and sensitive for weeks afterward. Laser procedures are most effective and work the fastest, but are perhaps even more painful. Home whitening kits require that you use them for several days, but their mild peroxide content can make them a better alternative.

What to Look for in a Good Home Teeth Whitening Product

There are just two things that a consumer needs to know about before purchasing a whitening product:

1. Peroxide Content

Peroxide is really the only home-use ingredient that works to whiten. Laser treatments are the fastest and most effective, but very expensive (costing 100’s or even 1000’s).

Home-based products can only use 45% peroxide content or less. The higher the peroxide level, the faster and more noticable the whitening effect will be. However, most people have trouble tolerating regular use with formulas that exceed 10% or even less than that with those who have really sensitive pearly whites.

2. Delivery Method

Some toothpastes contain small amounts of peroxide, but they aren’t effective at whitening stained teeth. In order to really whiten, the product needs to stay in contact with the teeth for 10 – 30 minutes. The longer the better, but the peroxide will begin making your teeth feel sensitive, possibly burning the gums too, if left on for too long.

The products discussed here all use either strips containing peroxide that conform neatly to the teeth, or a mouth-piece that acts like a cup, holding the peroxide on the surface of the tooth enamel.

Reviews of The Best Home Teeth Whitening Products

1. Crest 3D White Luxe Whitestrips Professional Effects Teeth Whitening Kit

Where to buy: Amazon

Crest and their 3D whitening products are the most well-known brand in home teeth whitening. They’ve sure come a long way over the years too. When Crest first released their first Whitestrips, they were awkward to handle, tasted terrible, and didn’t conform to the shape of our teeth very well.

These new Crest 3D White Whitestrips are made so well that you can talk and even drink cold beverages with them on! This kit contains 20 full treatments for the top and bottom teeth. They guarantee whiter teeth within three days of daily use. The product requires you to use it for 30 minutes each day for the full 20 days to achieve maximum, lasting results. The whitening gel is very mild, containing approximately 6.5% peroxide.

2. Crest 3D White Professional Effects + 1 Hour Whitening Express

Where to buy: Amazon

Crest’s 3D Professional Effects allows you to get the same whitening results of the basic whitestrips kit listed above. You get 20 daily whitening strips for both your upper and lower teeth. This professional effects kit also gives you a headstart in your whitening efforts with 2 one-hour express whitening treatments included with each purchase. The daily whitening strips contain 6.5% peroxide, while the one-hour express treatments have 14%.

If you have sensitive teeth, be prepared for some discomfort when using the express treatment, as it contains more peroxide than the daily whitening strips. Increased sensitivity for a day or two is normal and very few people are immune to this side effect when it comes to whitening products of any kind. This kit is a great value if you’ve never whitened your teeth before and have a lot of surface staining.

3. Dr Song Professional Teeth Whitening Kit

Where to buy: Amazon

This Dr. Song whitening kit is very affordable at just over $20. Rather than strips, the kit has moldable teeth trays that hold the peroxide close to your teeth while you’re whitening. The kit contains enough of the 44% peroxide treatment to do approximately 25 applications (top and bottom). The blue LED whitening accelerator light that’s also included with this kit is supposed to speed up the whitening process, however there’s no real evidence that this add-on really helps.

At quadruple the peroxide content of most over-the-counter whiteners, there should be little doubt this kit has the potential to whiten better than any of the competition. If you’re prone to tooth sensitivity, Dr. Song might offer more pain than you’re willing to handle, but you won’t find a cheaper or faster whitening kit anywhere.

4. Crest “Supreme” Professional Whitestrips

Where to buy: Amazon

This kit from Crest contains their most powerful whitening solution. It’s a decent value for $50 and change, coming with 42 upper and 42 lower teeth treatments, all using the 14% peroxide solution. These Crest Supreme Whitestrips are applied daily for thirty minutes, just like the other Crest Whitestrip products, and the 14% solution is quite tolerable to those who have mild sensitivity issues.

5. Opalescence Teeth Whitening Kit

Where to buy: Amazon

If you’re looking for a hardcore whitening kit, the Opalescence Teeth Whitening Kit might be a little more tolerable than Dr. Song’s formulation. At 35% peroxide, you can still expect extreme whitening results. They’ve also left out the unproven LED whitening accelerator used in the Dr. Song product.

Opalescence has set themselves apart with this product; flavoring the whitening gel with mint, which makes it a little more pleasing to the palette. You receive eight 1.2ml syringes of whitening gel and two moldable trays (top and bottom) with this kit for $30.

6. Rembrandt Intense Stain Disolving Strips

Where to buy: Amazon

These Rembrandt Intense strips really aren’t that “intense” at all. Rather, they’re more of a whiten-on-the-go product, that you can apply and forget about. The strips dissolve within ten minutes of application. Rembrandt claims the peroxide they use is a special quick-release type, but this claim is likely nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

This Rembrandt product, as mentioned, is great for on-the-go types who don’t want to sit around with a timer, waiting for thirty minutes to elapse so they can take the product out. Don’t expect your teeth to get super white after just a couple of treatments like you will with the other products on this page. However, Rembrandt Intense is cheap and convenient, and will whiten your teeth. Buy two kits to be safe if you decide to go with these dissolving strips.

Conclusion

If you’ve tried whitening with milder products like those sold by Crest or Rembrandt, but didn’t get the extreme whitening you wanted, now’s as good a time as any to order something stronger, from the whitening heavyweight king Dr. Song, or perhaps the slightly weaker but still super potent Opalescence.

If you’ve never tried home whitening before, or have a history of tooth sensitivity, it’s best to stick with the mild strip products, like the Crest kits or the very lifestyle-friendly dissolving strips from Rembrandt.

Give home whitening a try:

Home teeth whitening is a smart and affordable way to see just how white you can get your teeth, before making the decision to drop hundreds of dollars for a laser whitening or professional bleaching procedure. Home kits are much less invasive and painful than either of the professional options.