NPR

Navigating The 'Aisle Of Confusion' To Whiten Your Teeth

The whiter the smile the more attractive the person, research finds. Both men and women say white teeth matter when choosing a mate. This may be why whitening teeth is a $3.2 billion industry.
Surface stains from things like coffee, tea, tobacco and red wine can be lightened with routine brushing, flossing and professional cleaning in the dental office. But deeper stains that come with age and damage to the tooth require bleaching agents or veneers.

Walk down the aisle of your local pharmacy or grocery store and you'll be bombarded by a dizzying array of bleaching products, from gels and strips to paint-on bleach.

Cosmetic tooth bleaching is a $3.2 billion global industry, according to market analysts, and it's getting bigger fast. It's easy to see why. Strikingly white, bright smiles dominate TV and social media, and people tend to prefer the bright teeth of youth rather than those that have been yellowed by trauma or age.

But if you decide that you, too, want a brighter smile, it's hard to know where to start.

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