Tooth whitening the human eye and brain. Teeth are composed of a surface enamel layer, which is whiter and semitransparent, and an underlying dentin layer, which is darker and less transparent. These are calcified, hard tissues comparable to bone. The natural shade of teeth is best considered as such; an off-white, bone-color rather than pure white. Public opinion of what is normal tooth shade tends to be distorted. Portrayals of cosmetically enhanced teeth are common in the media. In one report, the most common tooth shade in the general population ranged from A1 to A3 on the VITA classical A1-D4 shade guide.
Tooth whitening filling the root canal with gutta-percha points, cleaning the inside of the canal using etchant and placing a peroxide gel or sodium perborate tetrahydrate into the pulp chamber so they can work directly inside the tooth on the dentine layer. In this variation of whitening the whitening agent is sealed within the tooth over a period of some days and replaced as needed, the so-called "walking bleach" technique.. A seal should be placed over the root filling material to minimise microleakage. There is a small risk of external resorption. An alternative to the walking bleach procedure is the inside-out bleach