But what is it that turns a regular toothpaste formula into a teeth whitening toothpaste? It's two main ingredients actually-a whitening agent like carbamide peroxide or sodium tripolyphospate PLUS an abrasive agent like silica (or calcium carbonate or dicalcium phosphate). And while the whitening agent usually gets all the credit, it's actually the tiny bits of silica that do most of the work.

Whitening agents, like carbamide peroxide, typically lighten teeth based on a combination of concentration strength and wear-time. But since the concentration of whitening agents in toothpastes is very low - and you only spend a few seconds or minutes each day brushing, the bleach isn't in contact with your teeth long enough to cause a reaction.  So the answer is NO....they really do not work.

Abrasiveness is what actually removes surface stains from teeth - and the silica-like substances in whitening toothpastes create the abrasive action. Now, in truth, all toothpastes remove surface stains - it's just that teeth whitening toothpastes have more abrasive formulations and therefore act more quickly, so you SEE a result faster.  But the toothpastes will never change the original shade of the teeth.

Potential Dangers with Whitening Toothpastes

But at what point does the abrasiveness of your whitening toothpaste become a danger? This is where things get interesting. All the while the little bits of silica are rubbing off your surface stains, they could be removing a little bit of tooth enamel as well. Some dentists are starting to worry that long-term use of heavily abrasive toothpastes will eventually weaken enamel to the point where plaque and bacteria begin to damage the teeth themselves.
 

Dr. Ueckert's Dental Office:

At Dr. Ueckert's office we can fabricate you a custom set of bleaching trays or do a 2-hour procedure called "ZOOM".  These procedures will actually whiten/bleach your teeth...as with "whitening toothpastes" will NOT change the actual tooth color but only remove surface stains, in some people.