There are a number of professional cleaning and teeth whitening services, and it's now easy for you to change from that person with yellow teeth to that person with shiny white set of teeth. The services will vary to address different needs and preferences and the costs are minimal as well thus making these professional services easy for many people interested to improve the quality of their smile. Extrinsic staining and intrinsic staining are the two basic types at which the teeth develop stains and discoloration. Extrinsic stains are developed in the surface of the teeth that resulted from the accumulation of food debris and color. While superficial stains and discoloration could be removed by prophylactic cleaning and brushing, there are stains that are a little more stubborn and could accumulate between the spaces of the tiny cracks in the tooth that would need bleaching to remove the stains. Even as professionally supervised teeth whitening treatments contain hydrogen peroxide as its active bleaching agent that is safe enough even for home use, over the counter preparations contain carbamide peroxide which is even safer and milder. The effects are the same. While hydrogen peroxide acts faster, carbamide peroxide when left in the mouth for a time divides into urea and hydrogen peroxide that acts on the stains by the oxidation process. Teeth Whitening and Bleaching Unlike temporary teeth which are shiny, very white and very clean looking, the permanent teeth that follow once the deciduous teeth are lost are usually less porous. Because of this, permanent teeth come in varying shades from white to off-white and sometimes to yellowish. Complement the use of the whitening toothpaste with the services of professional teeth cleaner. This is something that you would like to do if you want to achieve the best results for your teeth. The dentist or any professional is the one that will do the initial cleaning process. The dirt and the stains at the surface of the teeth will be removed, and will be primed up for the whitening session courtesy of the whitening toothpaste. If for example there are other serious concerns relating to the oral health condition, then the practitioner will not recommend outright teeth whitening procedure. Rather that person will be referred back to the dentist for proper assistance. If the pre-check reveals no problems, then the person will be up for the procedures related to teeth whitening.