Ever whitened your teeth?

[shannonRN]

I'm considering professional whitening and have a consultation scheduled in a few weeks with my dentist. I was wondering if anyone has whitened their teeth either professionally or with OTC products and what your experiences were.

My teeth really aren't very discolored, but I tried Crest whitestrips a few times with no real result--at least not the result I'm looking for. My dentist offers Zoom whitening and Opalescence, a tray/peroxide system. But in doing my research ahead of time, I see I can get Opalescence products OTC...so it seems stupid to pay a fortune to go thru my dentist. Just wondering what you folks know about the topic....

[meb999]

I have EXCESSIVELY sensitive teeth. I tried whitestrips once (you have to use the whole box to notice a difference) and they worked really well for me. I don't think I could use the dentist's peroxide treatment because, just the whitestrips made my teeth almost unbearibly sensitive (and I brush with sensodyne), and the dentist's peroxide mix is stronger than what you can get OTC.

I don't know about zoom whitening, because I'm too poor to enven consider it

[jawert1]

I did the same as Marie- Eve and man, my teeth hurt so badly after the first week I had to stop. Using a sensitive toothpaste helped but I've found that using a straw for my coffee (yeah it looks silly) has helped more to keep stains away than going through the pain (I refuse to give up my Tims)

[mafiaprincess]

I thought about zoom whitening.. but there are other things I'd rather do first.. I've tried pretty much every toothpaste imaginable, but your teeth have to be stained to notice a difference and mine aren't. They just aren't as white a colour as I'd like. Technically your teeth should match the whites of your eyes to be normal and healthy.. Too too white and some celeberties look a lil odd I've thought.

[jessi76]

If I were you, I'd keep that professional appointment.

I just had this conversation w/ my own dentist. OTC whitening isn't a great idea. Unless done by a professional, it can be damaging to your teeth. Essentially she told me the chemicals used to whiten/brighten can break down your natural enamel, often resulting in über-sensitive teeth. Some ppl use these products daily or many times a day, weekly, or leave the chemicals on too long. She suggested if I want to use OTC whiteners, to limit it to once every 3-6 mths.

Personally, I think the risks of OTC whiteners outweigh the potential benefits. I may gain 1 shade lighter, but it won't be significant, and may end up doing irreversible damage to my teeth. If I were to do it, I'd have it done professionally.

also, keep in mind, if you have any caps or crowns, they won't get any lighter.

ETA: daily use of a whitening toothpaste is just as bad as using other whitening products. The whitening toothpastes should also be for occassional use.

[erykah1310]

I ve used the white strips ( whole box to notice a difference) i didnt have any sensitivity problems afterwards. However yes if you have caps (like i do) then they dont change and it kinda looks silly! lol, I will be going with zoom whitening next time for sure, but really its not on the top of my to do list, I have best results with Crest whitening toothpaste, it keeps stains from coffee away( and the cinnamon tastes so good in the morning lol)

[shannonRN]

I meant that I had used the full treatment of whitestrips a couple of times in the past and felt my teeth looked brighter, but not really any whiter. It just doesn't give me the result I want.

Dental work is actually why I'm doing the whitening now, before I really really need it--I have to have a crown on one of my first bicuspids and after that, I'm stuck with the color of the crown and I definitely would like a whiter smile. So I want to whiten, wait a month or so for things to normalize again, then get the crown done. That's what my dentist recommends.

I was just at the dentist on Fri. and he talked to me throughout about the options, the likely results, etc, but since he had my mouth pried open the whole time I couldn't really ask questions. I was really surprised in my research to see the same product available OTC though. And all the products have the same ingredients anyhow...I suspect there's the risk associated with improper and overuse of the products that may occur if used unsupervised, but that the risks are all the same whether I get the product from Amazon.com or from Dr Thaney.

I had some trouble with sensitivity with whitestrips too; he suggests Sensadyne and fluoride rinses 2-3x a day and just told me I would have to be the judge--don't use the treatment every day if it's too bothersome. I think Zoom whitening would be scary b/c it's like one seriously intense session...at least if I lived in Ca I could just go pick up some Vicodin....

My biggest fear is that I'm going to dump all this money into whitening my teeth professionally and I still won't get the result that I want. The doc swears though that these products whiten your teeth intrinsically, not just remove stains--and my problem is more a genetic "dimness" than one of staining.

[shannonRN]

LOL @ "genetic dimness"--I guess that could be taken out of context

[Luvmypit]

I am using the Crest premium white strips 10 day whitening kit.

I have used this before and got good results. I have stains on my teeth from smoking and drinking tea. It seems to start to remove stains on the 3rd day. I am on my 4th day and I already notice an improvement. Its part of my look great on my wedding day plan.

[rainbow]

This was posted under the pet health forum. Why don't you guys try this and let me know if it works so I can use it on my cats.


Has anyone heard of using fragaria vesca pellets to remove tartar? On another forum they say it "works like magic" and for us humans too.

http://www.elixirs.com/prodSearch.cf...r /> ory=Pets

[Beaglemom]

I had my teeth whitened professionally. LOVED the results! It did make a difference. I think it was well worth the money that I spent. Now that I have the tray, all I have to do for touchups is to get more of the whitening solution from my dentist whenever I run out.

[shannonRN]

Yay! A reassuring answer. Don't you guys know I don't want the truth, just something to make me feel better about whatever decision I make?

F. vesca is just wild strawberry plant....how do they turn that into a pellet? Otherwise, sounds yummy!

[rainbow]

F. vesca is just wild strawberry plant....how do they turn that into a pellet? Otherwise, sounds yummy!

I don't know...it's homeopathic so need to find out from someone that's knowledgeable about that. I've been trying but no luck so far. It's also available in liquid form. It's more popular in Europe I think. I found out about it on another dog forum and lots of positive results there.

I found another website (but again it's a retail site, this one from the U.K.)

http://www.althealth.co.uk/services/...ts/fagaria.php

[HunterXHunter]

Originally Posted by mafiaprincess

Technically your teeth should match the whites of your eyes to be normal and healthy.. Too too white and some celeberties look a lil odd I've thought.

the whites of my eyes are...pinkish red...damn allergies...so now what do I do?

But I've considered Crest White Strips too. I've heard mixed results. Some of my friend say good, others say it does nothing so I feel I have a 50% chance of it working for me

EDIT: it's late, and I can't spell...

[mafiaprincess]

Originally Posted by HunterXHunter

the whites of my eyes are...pinkish red...dam allergys...so now what do I do?

ROTFLMAO Cute, very very cute.

Yeah, mine's 'genetic dimness' rather than staining. I asked my dentist maybe two years ago about zoom.. but I lacked a stable job, any disposable income. I was told I may be unhappy with the results. That If I smoked or drank copius amounts of coffee the result would be from yellow to bright white. Versus there'd be some change, but maybe no what I was imagining.. so I left it and haven't brought it up since..

[Prin]

I have talked to my dentist about it a few times because I have "calcification" or whatever that causes white spots on my teeth that make the rest look yellower. I can't stand to have sensitive teeth at all so he said don't do it. He said veneers would be better if I ever want to do anything (he's pretty adamant about closing my gap too, so there are alterior motives there).

[HunterXHunter]

Originally Posted by Prin

I have talked to my dentist about it a few times because I have "calcification" or whatever that causes white spots on my teeth that make the rest look yellower.there).

Hey I got that too! It's on (only) my front teeth too, which sucks... So when I smile/laugh it looks...awkward...

[shannonRN]

Maybe we could just try Wite-Out

[Prin]

Oh, I wouldn't be able to take the smell!

[shannonRN]

Okay, white chiclets then?

Speaking of veneers though, that's a pretty serious and invasive way to go about getting whiter teeth...Just to fill a gap, but match the existing color of your teeth, it's just those 2 teeth that get done. For a whiter smile, you're talking about 14-16 teeth average (according to my dentist) that figure prominently in a smile...Having just had a crown done when I broke a molar, I am pretty sure I wouldn't take veneers too lightly...that's a lot of grinding

[Prin]

No, no, you only veneer the front few- I'd say the top is more important than the bottom. But then most people's front teeth are whiter than the rest anyway, so you'd look normal even if you don't do all the ones he suggests.. Even if I used veneers to close my gap, they would have to do at least the front 4 (otherwise I'd have two enormous white front teeth...).

[shannonRN]

LOL, I guess I watched too many episodes of "The Swan" when it was on TV I think they did at least the front 6 teeth, upper and lower. No thank you.

According to my dentist, I grin like an idiot and show too many teeth, so he even told me that Zoom probably isn't the best choice for me because it focuses on the front teeth. I go back for my consultation on the 15th and look forward to hearing what more he has to say. And of course, the numbers.

[Schwinn]

Gracie is getting a couple of white spots on her teeth (all six of them...she's above the Keswick average...woo-hoo!) The dentist said it was no big deal, it happens. I wasn't too worried, since she'll be getting new teeth in 8 years anyway. I hope it doesn't bother her when she's older. Maybe I'll just point out how wierd people with teeth with one colour looks...

I have extremely sensitive teeth, so I've stayed clear of the whitening. I just had my teeth cleaned, that's good enough for me. But then, I'm not too concerned about it. I'm also missing a tooth, which doesn't bug me. When I was younger, I had a great story about the game winning save I made after I lost my helmet during a big hockey game. It sounds a lot better than the truth, it was a baby tooth that never fell out that the Dr yanked. (still have the other one on the other side).