All toothpastes help remove surface stains through the action of mild abrasives. Some whitening toothpastes contain gentle polishing or chemical agents that provide additional stain removal. Whitening toothpastes can help remove surface stains only and can have small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in them. Over-the-counter and professional whitening products contain hydrogen peroxide (a bleaching substance) that helps remove stains on the tooth surface as well as stains deep in the tooth. None of the home use whitening toothpastes can come even close to producing the bleaching effect you get from our office’s chair-side bleaching or KoR bleaching. Whitening toothpastes can lighten your tooth color by about one shade. In contrast, whitening conducted in our office can make your teeth three to eight shades lighter.