Teeth Whitening
 

What products should one use?Theres a ton out there now

I don't really understand the whole teeth whitening thing.
Just brush twice daily, or once for about 5 minutes or so.

I don't know how good bleaching or other artifical colouring can be good for your teeth?
I don't know any products, but be sure to check possible side-effects etc.
Also i would never want me teeth to be THAT white. They look so fake, like a lot of TV presenters etc have them, but excessivley white teeth can also be unattractive. But i guess thats just me :eek:

hopefully someone else can be more helpful. Sorry :o

I thought about whitening my teeth but decided against it. Most of the products cause damage to your teeth and I'd rather not do that. White teeth isn't that big a deal because only a few people have really white teeth and most of them have it artificially done because they are famous.

BAH!

White teeth are sexy!
Who the hell wants nappy yellow teeth?

Crest Whitening Strips work pretty well :) runs for about 30$ if i can recall, there's other stuff out there but doesn't work nearly as well :) if all else fails go to the dentist ;)

Costs me $7 at the dentist. Viva my uber dental insurance!

I got something called NiteBright or NiteWhite or something of that sort from my dentist. They take mouldings of your teeth and then you paint them with gel and wear it over night. After 5-10 days of wearing them you're golden (or....white), thats it, thats all. It makes your teeth a little extra sensative to extreme cold and heat but that can easily be taken care of by sensative teeth toothpaste. No long term effects have come up yet that are serious, and I haven't had any problems a year or so later. They give you plenty of extra gel for touch ups every year or as needed. I think it would have cost me about $200CAD if it weren't for my dental insurance.

Forgot to add - if you use any of these products too much it will look like a bunch of chicklets in your head, but theres a line you don't have to cross between white and fake. The white is awesome, a great smile is half the battle in life!

How much does teeth whitening usually run at the dentist office??

I used the crest brush on stuff.. Its a pain to remember to put it on every night. It seems to take a long time to work.. It wears off in your sleep.

I used crest white strips. THey actually work but the results is only slightly whiter teeth. It's $35.

I had trays made a few years ago. My family has always had problem teeth, they are soft and stain easily with red wine, tea, coffee, etc.

I redo them every few months. Just put the stuff in the trays and wear them overnight. Not a big deal really. Works like a charm.

The original trays were expensive, around $500. The solution to use with them I get for free from my sister in-law so not sure what that goes for.

I plan to whiten my teeth after I get my stinkin' wisdom teeth pulled and that bill paid off....but I would go professional- it's the longest-lasting and sure-fire way.

I have used the Crest-White strips and they didn't do anything for me. I also used another brand that was similar and had the same results. I spoke to my dentist and he suggested doing the tray thing where you add the gel and the whiten overnight, but that isn't cheap. There is also a lasr technique, which is relatively new, that whitens your teeth. This costs around $10,000 CAD and my dentist says that it isn't preoven and actually does nothing. I'm strating to think my dentist is a bit of a wacko. Anyhoo, there it is. I'm actually having brace work at the moment and will pursue teeth whitening after that.

I heard that Crest white strips can put stripes on you teeth where the strip does not cover perfect and if you teeth are not perfectly straight it can be noticeable. Is that true?

if you put the strips on badly perhaps. The gel on the strips expands a bit to get the sides of your teeth. My bottom rom of teeth are kind of crooked but I didn't notice any stripes or missing bits. The strips worked well on me i guess, my teeth whitened considerably after the two week period.

What i've heard is the strips are your olny chance if you're not going to shell out the cash for the dentist to do it. I think most of the toothpastes are crap, they're just not on your teeth long enough.

My personal experience says the strips work, but aren't as effective as I'd like for them to be. A second box of the strips did the trick for me, however.

I used the strips, and had a noticeable, but not excessive difference. I liked the results, but it was not extreme.

I've ben thining about the strips and it's good to hear all the comments out there. I may give one package a shot. I assume they aren't uncomfortable at night?

I just use whitening toothpaste. It's slow but your teeth won't ever yellow up while you are using it. Also it's convient, no extra product is needed.

todo, the strips only go on for half an hour. after that you take em out and rinse your mouth.

Here's the rundown on effectiveness

1- whitening toothpastes:close to useless
2- white strips, nite white: some people get decent results, others not as good, generally not quite what the ads would have you believe. Brown and yellow shades bleach much better than gray shades. The whitestrips won't stripe your teeth-however teeth are more opaque at the gumline and this can lead to a 'striped' appearance, this would also occur with tray based systems.
3. Tray based gels- what you get in most offices, this works well for almost everyone and your dentist should give you a fair assessment if you have hard to bleach coloration.
4. Office based whitening- strongest bleach available. These can be chemically, heat, light or laser activated. The 'special laser' is purely marketing as the other systems work just as well. Don't pay extra for it.
5. I charge 425 for trays (relatively low).

I am sure that all products work to a degree- and they will work more for some than others, depending on a- how stained your teeth are to begin with, b- how white you want them.

todc are you a dentist? Anyone know how much the office laser cleaning costs?

Brush with baking soda once a week.

Afterburn

Yes, I charge 650 for chemically activated bleach. The in office bleaching will get you the same results no matter if its chemically, light or laser activated. The companies that promote these lasers have published some studies 'demonstrating superiority', but these are typical of sponsored research. More independent research shows no difference. Don't pay extra for the fancy light, the product will still work well, but won't work any better. You can also have considerable pricing variation in an area.

And does insurance cover whitening?

Afterburn,
I have seen one patient get coverage for bleaching in 8 years-so probably not.

i got some gel from my dentist. it was covered by my dental plan so i went for it. they took a mold of my teeth and gave me different gels with a variety of strength. they worked great after a few days, i still have a whole box left it, should last me a few years.

I've been having really good luck with Crest Night Effects. My teeth have whitened right up. You brush a paste on at night, and then sleep, and brush it off the next morning. Initially it's kind of sick but you get used to it, and the results are worth it!

I'm not sure where ya'll live, but out here in So Cal we have teeth whitening centers/salon/spa in one establishment. Awesome!

Jephree-do they have a dentist in these combo centers?

I just purchased Rembradt immediate whitening toothpaste just 2 days ago and I am a couple shades whiter. For $7.00 it's well worth it.

I used my dentist. It was $4--something...don't remember. The gels seems to be the most effective. To me, getting a light-activated one would be nice, but if you had to redo it every year would be very expensive. Get the trays and the gels, and touch up once a year or so. I had so much dental work done when I was a kid, I might as well make them look their best. I don't believe in painfully white teeth, but a few shades look natural and clean!

As a dentist I can state this is the best way to do it.

Gel >> Light activated and normally cheaper.

Brightsmile = overpriced

White teeth are always so much more plesant to look at then yellow, stained teeth. I think I am gonna go to my dentist and get the trays made and get the gel. I think it costs about $250.

Gonna do that exact same thing on Thursday.

I agree! Just finished using it and am finally happy with my teeth. A few months ago I used Colgate's "Simply White," but it would always wash away in my saliva. So I waited a few months to try again. I was about to get the white strips until I saw an ad for "Night Effects." Once you brush the solution on your teeth, it takes 30 seconds to harden. And you can still drink water and not have to worry about it. You can't eat, of course. But if you put too much on, it will smudge off. But I got great results from it, for half the price of the strips.

Edit: And it only takes one application every night before you go to bed, instead of twice a day like Simply White.

I used Crest Whitening Strips & they worked great, there are a few different types (i.e. -7 day, 14 day, night time etc) I used the 14 day & was quite pleased with the results

I've been using Colgate's Simply White Night for about a week now and the difference is amazing,people have been complimenting me a lot on my smile.

You have to brush this stuff on and leave it on overnight,it's a pain but it lifts 5 shades as opposed to only 3 shades for the whitening strips.I caught a sale and found it's $10.99 price tag a lot more agreeable than $24.99 for the strips.

Anyone have anything else to say about Brightsmile?? I went to talk to someone the other day about whitening my teeth. They said I would have better luck getting them whiter with them then through gel trays at a dentist.

I have numerous stains on my teeth caused by taking a lot of antibiotics and medicines when I was younger, they said I would have a better result with the Brightsmile process because the dental trays have a hard time lightening these type of stains.

If I'm going to be shelling out the cash to whiten my teeth, I want the one that will work the best. Through my dentist, the trays would be $300-something, an extra $150 or so I don't see as being particularly overpriced if the end result would be better in my case.

Any comments/suggestions from you dentists would be appreciated.

I just started using it- night 3 last night, can't notice much yet, but I still have 11 more days to go!

I'm on day 4 or so of 7 on my Crest White Strips. I dunno how well they'll end up working, but my teeth feel cleaner than ever.

Hey,
I said it before, i'll say it again....i'm old school. I take my toothbrush and put any toothpaste on it...don't matter. Then I dip the brush with paste into a box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to cover the toothpaste. Rinse my mouth prior to brushing and watch an instant result before my mirror. Teeth are not necessarily opague white, but layers of transluscent white. So it is important to brush the devil off the inner and outer sides of your teeth.

I drink mad espresso at least 3 - 4 times a day with my machine, so you know a dentist cleaning would be a short lived experience 4 me. So I also on occassonI use hydrogen peroxide and swish it around with the baking soda on a brush to get that deep cleaning. It works and is cheaper. Hydrogen Peroxide however may swell your gums a bit for a short period.

Pom

^^^Ya know, you sound like me (the coffee thing) except I only drink 1 (maybe 2) cups a day, but I have lattes.

I've done the baking soda thing, I absolutely can't stand the taste, but it probably is a wise & cheap way to do it.

::: tries to conjur up the guts to do it :::

I used Rembrandt for 2 weeks. I did notice a difference after about a week. It was just kind of messy and made me spit alot. 20 mins twice a day. Hard to talk with em in too.

by using baking soda, wouldnt it rott away at your teeth or something?! what is the bad side effect of using baking soda?

No, it really shouldn't; otherwise, i wouldn't mess around with it and neither would the dental association approving it being used in the ingredients of the toothpastes on the market. It is ital (natural, so I personally don't even think about any deleterious effects on my teeth.

POM

Yeah, I am firm that this is the poor (yet wise) mans way to go. Of course, the probability of increasing the rise of dentists suicides may rise as a result (Did you know that dentist have a very high rate of suicide than with any other profession....why....?????). Yeah, the peroxide combined with the baking soda is very tough on stains....I am firm on that personally.

Not to deter you....but it just seems too expensive and transient to me in using the strips to me. I talked with a collegue who uses them and she complains about the price. Yup....a good ole box of Arm & Hammer for 98 cents and a 49 cent 16oz bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. I wouldn't call it quackery if it is the highlighted ingredients on the mainstream toothpaste on the market.

POM

Hmm, I already use mentadent with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Maybe I'll try the baking soda thing in addition to that?

All I remember about hydrogen peroxide is that it stung like hell when mom put it on my cuts when I was little. I think I'd be a little reluctant to rinse my mouth out with it.