Teeth whiteners: Invest in your smile

There are many cosmetic teeth whiteners on the dental products market, ranging from chemicals, gels, and strips to dental capping and laser zaps. Smoking, aging, too much coffee, hard water, an inordinate fondness for blueberry pie -- all these can discolor your teeth to one extent or another. Fortunately, you don't have to live with dental discoloration these days. All methods are effective, so your best teeth whiteners depend on what you're willing to spend. The cost varies widely from treatment to treatment; a laser zoom teeth whitening procedure may not be in your price range, while standard bleaching gels are.

Bleach blonde...? Not exactly.

Speaking of bleaching, are bleaches for teeth the same as the bleach you use for your laundry? Nope. Whitening products for your teeth usually include a generous dose of hydrogen peroxide. It's more than just an antiseptic; in high enough concentrations, it also leaches color from everything from cloth to hair to teeth. It's also safer and less gaseous than laundry bleach, but given the chance it will do an excellent job of making each tooth it touches whiter. These peroxide products come in several formats, including whitening strips that you tape to your teeth to gooey gels that your brush them with.

Veneers and cosmetic teeth ray guns

More drastic measures for making your teeth white again take place in the dentist's office. Either you can get a mouthful of veneers (kind of like brightening a house up with vinyl siding) or you can try something even more radical: laser whitening. The dentist puts a peroxide gel on the tooth to be whitened, and zaps it with a laser. (Really!). The tooth instantly becomes up to tens times whiter. How's that for modern technology?