Whether you are getting married, have a school reunion, or just want to look clean and professional, having white teeth will help enhance your appearance. And with all the ways to make this happen these days, it can get confusing. Do you go to a professional for the cleaning, or can you take home a kit and do it yourself?

You first have to know the basics about making your pearly whites actually white. For example, do you want to have your teeth bleached or whitened? Bleaching is to be used only when the teeth can be whitened beyond their natural color. Whitening, on the other hand, refers to restoring your teeth to their natural color by removing dirt.

There are several reasons why your teeth become stained. Some reasons are in your control and some are out of your control including:

· Age. Teeth are going to darken as a result of wear and tear just like carpeting in your living room

· Starting color. We are all born with a tooth color that intensifies over time.

· Translucency and thinness. These are genetic traits that become more prevalent over time.

· Eating habits. Deeply colored food and beverages such as red wine, carrots, coffee, tea, cola, oranges and others cause considerable staining over the years.

· Smoking habits. Nicotine causes discoloration.

· Grinding. This can cause your teeth to crack allowing the biting edges to darken.

You now know what can cause staining, but what are your options to revert your teeth back to their natural color?

1) In-office whitening. A dentist can use a highly-concentrated peroxide gel on your teeth to help whiten them. The gel is left on your teeth for several 15-20 minutes intervals that last about an hour total.

2) Professionally-dispensed take-home whitening kits. Several dental professionals suggest this can garner the best results over time. These take home kits have a less-concentrated peroxide gel that remains on the teeth for an hour or longer.

3) Over-the-counter whitening. This is the cheapest and most convenient way. This has the lowest concentrated peroxide gel. The gel is applied to the teeth via on-size-fits-all trays, whitening strips or paint-on applicators. The major problem with this is that many users are only able to whiten a few of their front teeth, rather their entire smile.

Consult a dental professional before using any take home kit. Once you realize the method you would like to target and use, you will be one step closer to having the smile you've always wanted.