Tooth whitening can cost anything from $400 and upwards for a professional laser whitening treatment, to a do it yourself kit for $29.99 off the Internet.

All the tooth whitening products essentially do the same thing. They are all a form of bleaching your teeth. Bleaching, however, may not correct all types of discoloration.

Discoloration can occur for many reasons. The most common reason is the typical yellow stains you see as you grow older and consume too much tea, coffee, cola, red wine & tobacco. Tobacco in particular can cause teeth to quickly develop unsightly yellow stains. The good news these yellow stains are easy to get rid of with bleaching products.

Quick Summary of the Main Bleaching Methods:

Chair-side bleaching – Your dentist can provide expert advice on how to achieve the best professional results in the chair. You will be able to use the latest technology which uses a bleaching system combined with a special light or laser which speeds up the bleaching and allows the dentist to achieve the best results very quickly. The cost of the treatment averages out around $475 for the laser whitening. The great advantage is that you can walk out an hour later with white teeth. The disadvantage is that people with sensitive teeth report burning sensations and "twinges" from the bleaching compounds. The shorter the treatment time, the stronger the bleaching action. The heat caused by the light causes the bleaching agent to act faster, but can increase the sensitivity.

Initial treatment followed by at home Treatment

Some dentists do an initial in-office whitening with a very strong bleaching solution, then give you a kit with a weaker bleaching solution to use at home over time. Your dentist will take a mold of your mouth and provide you with a custom set of mouth trays. Your dentist will then show you how to use the bleaching gel in the trays, and decide on the right level of the active bleaching agent for your gums and sensitivity. You are paying for an initial in-office treatment, a set of custom mouth trays, and your dentists expert help. Your dentist will likely use a 22-45% carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide solution which is a relatively strong solution while in the chair, and will give you a 16-22% solution for use at home. However, this can vary greatly according to your sensitivity and the actual whitening agent used.

Do it Yourself at Home– Many online web sites and over the counter bleaching agents are now widely available. The major problem with the do it yourself kits - is frankly - you. Many of them require you to make your own custom trays by dipping plastic molds in hot water until they become malleable and require you to spend 45 minutes to an hour wearing the awkward trays for several sessions. It takes a least a week to see a noticeable difference, and most people will need 2-3 weeks. However, the active ingredients are exactly the same and you CAN get professional quality dental whitening treatment for an absolute fraction of the cost. On the internet you can find tooth whitening kits, including the trays, and 40 applications of 35% Carabide Peroxide for $30. Just google tooth whitening kits.

The biggest problem with the do it yourself kits is the trays. Your dentist will give you a professional custom fit set of trays that do not expose the gum tissue. This is difficult to do with the do it yourself kits, although you can certainly painstakingly cut the molds to shape the exact profile of each tooth using scissors. Make sure the product that you buy has thick gel which stays in place. You should also look out for additives and fillers added to the gel which may cause additional sensitivity. A good middle ground would be to have your dentist make you a set of custom mouth trays. You can then often just buy the bleaching gel direct and save money that way.

Strips – Whiten teeth without a liquid component at an affordable price and minimal tooth sensitivity. The problem with the strips is that unless you have perfectly aligned teeth you won’t get all of your teeth bleached, and they can leave nasty gaps where the teeth meet.

Brush-on whitening: formula or toothpaste – Many toothpastes advertise themselves as "tooth whitening". Some of the these products may help, but in general they don’t make much of a visible difference.

Home Treatments - some people use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mixed together with salt. The hydrogen peroxide bleaches and the baking soda is an abrasive cleaner that removes stains. This home remedy does work, but will be abrasive on the enamel
References :
http://www.smarthealthbuyer.com/Dental/price/Teeth_Whitening_in_home/in/Louisiana/Baton_Rouge/