The best teeth whitening kits, ranked on what the box admits

The best teeth whitening kit for most adults is not sold in a shop at all: it is a set of custom trays and a peroxide gel supplied by a dentist who has looked at your teeth first. Among kits you can buy yourself, we rank peroxide strips that either carry the ADA Seal or publish their strength above everything else, and we put colour correctors last because they tint rather than bleach.

That order will not suit everyone, and it is not a verdict on your teeth. It is a ranking of what each product tells you, what the research on its type of product says, and what it costs per go. Two answers on this page pay us nothing, and we say which ones next to each link.

How we ranked the kits

We ranked on four things you can check yourself, in this order of weight. First, disclosure: does the seller say what the active ingredient is and, ideally, at what strength? Second, evidence for the category: is this a type of product that independent reviews have actually tested? Third, the label's own guidance on age, sensitivity and restorations. Fourth, price per treatment, worked out from the seller's own price and treatment count.

We did not test these kits on anyone, and we publish no before-and-after photos and no "shades whiter" numbers. Those numbers come from the sellers' own studies, measured in ways that differ from brand to brand, and a shade count copied onto this page would read like our own finding. Every claim below that belongs to a seller is attributed to that seller.

The evidence base is thinner than the marketing suggests. A 2018 Cochrane review of home-based whitening pooled 71 trials and found that peroxide products in trays, strips, paint-on gels and some gums and rinses whitened teeth compared with a placebo over two weeks to six months, but it rated the certainty of that evidence low to very low. It could not say which formula, concentration or method was better. So a ranking that claims one strip is proven to beat another is claiming more than the research can support.

The ranking at a glance

The short version is in the table: trays from a dentist first, peroxide strips next, a PAP formula after them, colour correctors last. The columns show what each seller publishes, not what we measured.

Before the details, one piece of honesty about the ranking itself. The kit we rank first pays us nothing, and so does the option we rate most highly for people who only have surface stains: a professional clean and an ordinary fluoride toothpaste. Commission from the rest is small, and none of it moved a row.

1. Take-home trays from your dentist

Dentist-supplied trays rank first because they are the only option here that begins with someone checking your teeth and gums. The dentist makes trays that fit your mouth, chooses the gel strength, and shows you how to keep it off your gums.

The ADA describes these systems as custom trays that "minimize contact of the gel with the patient's gingiva", with gels that typically range from 10% to 38% carbamide peroxide. Carbamide peroxide releases about one-third of its content as hydrogen peroxide, which is why those percentages are not directly comparable with a strip's hydrogen peroxide figure. The NHS says you then wear the trays at home "for around 2 to 6 weeks".

In the UK and EU this is also the only lawful route to a gel stronger than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide: products between 0.1% and 6% may be sold only to dental practitioners, and the first use of each course has to happen with a dental professional. The NHS calls a kit from a dentist, or treatment at a dental surgery, "the safest way to have teeth whitening".

What stops it being everyone's answer is cost and access. Delta Dental publishes no figure for take-home trays and simply says to ask your dentist, and we found no primary source for a US price, so we print none. Our dentist-versus-home comparison sets out what you pay for with each route. There is no affiliate link here; it pays us nothing.

2. Crest 3D Whitestrips Professional White

Crest 3D Whitestrips are the strip to start with if you want a shop-bought kit, because Crest 3D Whitestrips is listed in the ADA's Seal of Acceptance product search under tooth whitening, with the accepted claim "Helps whiten teeth". The Seal is a voluntary programme in which a company shows the ADA that a product meets its requirements for safety and effectiveness when used as directed.

The Professional White box holds 40 strips, 20 for the top teeth and 20 for the bottom, and Crest's directions are one treatment "once a day for 45 minutes for 20 days". That adds up to 15 hours of wear across the course. The ingredient list names hydrogen peroxide, but the product page we read does not state its strength, which is why Crest sits below the tray option on disclosure.

The label is unusually useful. It says the kit is not intended for children under 12, that the strips will not whiten "caps, crowns, veneers, fillings or dentures", that they should not be used on loose teeth or braces, and that if significant sensitivity develops you should stop for 2 to 3 days and discontinue if it persists. Crest also sells Gentle Routine and Sensitive versions for people who react to the standard strips.

We link to Crest 3D Whitestrips through Amazon, which may pay us a small commission. Prices move daily there, so we do not print one.

3. BURST Non-Slip Whitening Strips

BURST ranks third because it does what the other strip sellers on this page do not: it prints the strength on the product page. Its Non-Slip Whitening Strips use 6% hydrogen peroxide in a 15-minute treatment, and BURST describes a 7-day course. They cost $19.99 when we read the page.

Publishing a percentage lets you compare, and it also shows how differently countries treat the same product. At 6% these strips sit sixty times above the 0.1% the EU and UK allow over the counter, and inside the band those rules reserve for dental practitioners. BURST sells in the US, where we found no federal concentration limit of that kind, and its own range goes higher: a Precision Whitening Pen at 9% hydrogen peroxide for $14.99, and Prefilled Whitening Trays at 15% for $29.99.

Higher strength is not simply better. The Cochrane review found sensitivity and oral irritation were more common at higher concentrations, although mild and transient. BURST's own figures on sensitivity come from its own data, so we leave them out. BURST also sells PAP versions of the strips and pen for people who want to avoid peroxide.

You can see BURST's whitening strips on its own site; the link may pay us, and BURST does not publish its commission.

4. SNOW Diamond Series Teeth Whitening Kit

SNOW's kit ranks fourth: it is a peroxide system, but the page does not say how strong. SNOW says the Diamond Series kit, $79.00 with three serums, is "formulated with hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide", plus hydroxyapatite. It sells an LED Teeth Whitening Mouthpiece separately for $39.00.

The light is part of the appeal, and it is where we are most careful. The ADA describes the lights dentists use as "intended to accelerate and enhance the bleaching process" without reporting that a home device achieves it, and nothing we read shows that an LED mouthpiece changes the result of the gel alone. SNOW also sells DiamondSeries dissolving strips at $29.00 for 7 treatments or $44.00 for 21, which works out at $4.14 or $2.10 per treatment. The product page describes the strips as lifting surface stains and lists hydroxyapatite, but it does not name a bleaching agent, so we rank the kit rather than the strips.

SNOW's affiliate programme is listed on third-party directories, and we could not confirm its terms at SNOW itself. The link to SNOW's Diamond Series kit may pay us if our application is approved.

5. Hismile PAP+ Whitening Strips

Hismile's PAP+ strips rank fifth because they use a different chemistry with a thinner independent record. Hismile's PAP+ formula is built on PAP, an oxidising agent sold as a peroxide alternative, and Hismile says it works "without releasing molecules known as free radicals", which it links to sensitivity.

That is Hismile's explanation, not a finding we can confirm. PAP was not among the agents covered by the 2018 Cochrane review, which looked at carbamide and hydrogen peroxide gels and strips, paint-on gels, chewing gums and a mouthwash. The strips cost $35.00 for 7 treatments, or $5.00 per treatment, which puts them level with SNOW's 7-pack of purple strips as the most expensive per go of the strips we priced.

Hismile's V34 Whitening Strips mix a purple colour corrector with PAP+ at $39.00 for 14 applications, or $2.79 each. Hismile itself describes the colour-correction part as giving "a temporary visual improvement". You can see Hismile's PAP+ strips on Hismile's site; that link may pay us.

6. Purple colour correctors

Purple correctors rank last because they do not whiten teeth in the bleaching sense at all: they tint the surface so yellow reads as less yellow. Hismile says its V34 Colour Corrector Serum, $24.99, is designed "to temporarily conceal the yellow tones" and that its results are "entirely on the tooth surface". SNOW describes its purple strips as "instant optical brightening".

That makes them a cosmetic trick for an evening, not a treatment, and it makes them the one option with no peroxide to irritate gums. If that is what you want, the price per go matters more than any claim. SNOW's purple strips cost $35.00 for 7 or $49.00 for 21, which is $5.00 or $2.33 per strip. We explain how they work in our guide to purple whitening strips.

What to buy if your stains are only on the surface

If your teeth are stained on the surface by coffee, tea, red wine or tobacco, you may not need a kit at all. The ADA says a wide range of surface stains can be reduced by brushing with a whitening toothpaste or by a professional clean, and whitening toothpastes work mainly by abrasion, with some adding low levels of peroxide.

What toothpaste cannot do is change the colour inside the tooth. The ADA says toothpastes and gums "will not have a significant impact on intrinsic stains", which are the ones that sit in the enamel and dentin and grow with age. A dental clean pays us nothing, and neither does the fluoride toothpaste you already own. Our whitening toothpaste guide covers what the label claims can and cannot mean.

Who should not whiten at home

Some people should talk to a dentist before buying any kit, and some should not whiten at all for now. The rules and labels we read point to the same groups.

• Under-18s. The EU and UK rule says products between 0.1% and 6% hydrogen peroxide are "not to be used on a person under 18 years of age", the NHS says whitening is not done if you are 17 or younger, and Crest's label sets its own floor at 12.
• People with crowns, veneers, fillings or implants on show. Only natural teeth lighten, so a whitened tooth can end up a different colour from a restoration beside it.
• People with sore gums, loose teeth, decay or braces. Crest's label rules out loose teeth, restorations and braces, and the GDC expects an examination for risk factors before stronger products are used.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding readers. The NHS says whitening is not recommended.

If whitening makes a tooth ache for more than a few days, stop and ask a dentist. The ADA says strip and tray sensitivity usually settles by the fourth day after treatment; pain that lasts longer is a reason to be examined, not a reason to switch brands. Our guide to whitening for sensitive teeth goes through what the labels and the ADA say.

How the law treats the same kit in different countries

The same box can be an ordinary shop product in one country and restricted in another, and knowing which applies to you tells you a lot. In the EU and UK, over-the-counter tooth whitening products may contain no more than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide, present or released; between 0.1% and 6% they may be sold only to dental practitioners; above 6% they are not permitted as cosmetics. That rule came from Council Directive 2011/84/EU, which member states applied from 31 October 2012.

In the US we found no equivalent federal cap, which is why a 15% tray kit can be sold online. In Canada, Health Canada asks for a clinical study when an oral cosmetic contains more than 3% hydrogen peroxide. We set out each rule, with its source, in our guide to hydrogen peroxide limits by country.