Teeth Whitening

[Tuff Enuff]

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Crest white strips made my teeth hurt like [censored] and didn't really work. I went to my dentist and he made imprint molds of my teeth for this Colgate Visible White stuff where you squirt some gel into the trays and put it on your teeth for two weeks.

My teeth where noticably whiter after just two days. It was really fantastic. I think it cost about $400, I'm not sure. I can't imagine paying like $1-$2000 for the next step up when this worked so well.

-ChipsAhoya

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Exact same experience. Don't use the strips there junk and a waste of money. Go to your dentist and he will kook you up. Teeth might be sensitive for a day or two after you bleach but its minor.

You wont regret having it done.

[MicroBob]

my Dad and sister both had really negative experiences with dentist-whitening and at-home white-strip stuff.

My Dad was hurting for a couple of weeks. Burned his gums or something.

I'm using the Crest Whitening mouthwash and also some random whitening toothpaste. I don't really see it as making a difference though but perhaps they are less yellow then they would be otherwise, don't know. I do drink a lot of coffee and soda so it's poossible my teeth might be totally brown if I didn't use the stuff I guess.

[Howard Beale]

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Any have this done professionally? What is the best "type" and experiences...I.E "zoom whitening" locations?

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I tried one of the 'one time' treatments and it worked ok but it didn't last for me because I smoke and drink a lot of coffee. I then had my dentist make plastic impressions and buy the teeth whitening stuff from him and it works well and would work even better if I used it more. That's the good part of this approach: You can continue the process as needed. Plus it's not that expensive.

[tdarko]

MicroBob,

I haven't done teeth whitening (my teeth are still pearly white!) but I know some people that have done Zoom which is the new way to do this and they have all loved it. It took an hour, worked, didn't hurt, didn't leave their teeth sensitive. My question is when did your Dad do the teeth whitening b/c I guess some of the older versions where a real pain?

[JMP300z]

Im a 4th yr dental student about to graduate.

Tooth whitening isnt really harmful to your teeth...there is some reports of slight risk of resorption but really whitening is fine. Sensitivity is a temporary side effect and can range from mild to severe. Consider alternating in a desensitizing tooth paste like sensodyne containing potassium nitrate.

Zoom etc in office bleaching doesnt work. Seriously. Dentists use it b/c patients want the service of doing it in an hour or two and buy into the hype. During the procedure your teeth become desiccated and whiten but the result is temporary and the final shade change is minimal. Again, it is a marketing gimmick.

Crest white strips and all the other OTC work fine for a slight to moderate change.

Ask your dentist if he/she makes trays and can issue you some 22% carbamide peroxide. Wear the trays overnight. This is the most effective and proven method. You can continue to bleach for months to a year to get the desired results.

If you have any hypocalcification (white spots) they will not change but whitening your teeth to match them and hide them somewhat sometimes works.

ALso if you have dark intermittent stains in addition to yellowish shade teeth, consider a good cleaning or microabrasion in order to remove them.

Lastly, bleaching will NOT change any restorations you have. Any composite fillings, porcelain laminate veneers or porcelain crowns will not change colors and will have to be replaced. If you are planning on having these done in your anterior teeth, think to bleach to the desired shade before having these services.

Feel free to PM me any specific questions.

-JP

[EvanJC]

I had a lot of luck with the over the counter white-strips, and would definitely recommend using these before getting sized up at your dentist for professional whitening.

[kevin017]

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Zoom etc in office bleaching doesnt work. Seriously. Dentists use it b/c patients want the service of doing it in an hour or two and buy into the hype. During the procedure your teeth become desiccated and whiten but the result is temporary and the final shade change is minimal. Again, it is a marketing gimmick.

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hah this is funny. i'm headed toward dental school (hopefully), and the two dentists i've observed have zoom machines. they view them as easy $ basically, but i think they believe they work.


i thought i'd add, don't bleach too much or your teeth turn blue and you look like a dbag.

[wtfsvi]

[ QUOTE ]
Zoom etc in office bleaching doesnt work. Seriously. Dentists use it b/c patients want the service of doing it in an hour or two and buy into the hype. During the procedure your teeth become desiccated and whiten but the result is temporary and the final shade change is minimal. Again, it is a marketing gimmick.

[/ QUOTE ] I did this in Vegas in july, and my teeth are significantly whiter now than they used to be. Does that mean this is still not my final shade?

[tedtodd]

I did a $600 whitening at a dentists office. Where they paint the [censored] on your teeth individually. It was SO painful. If you have any tooth sensitivity don't even bother. It's a miserable experience. And 3 months later my teeth are back to original color.

Same with my wife. Except her experience was excruciating pain, that lasted for hours afterwards.

[peachy]

I did mine in the dentist office, it was between 500 and 700, I cannot remember now, but this included them making molds of my teeth for home trays and some of their take home formula stuff as well. I choose to do both because I wanted the quick thing at the dentist and then keep up with it at home. Im not positive on what "type" of procedure it was, like the name, but they put stuff on my teeth and placed UV (??) lights in my mouth at different angles for different times. On one of my teeth some of it oozed onto my gum and jesus did it hurt, it stung soooooooo bad, but I just had to sit there and take it, mainly cause i knew if i said something they couldnt do much at this point cause it was already on there and they would just take everything out and start again. Afterwards there was painful sensitivity for about 2 days. I would have to put pressure on my teeth/gums and rub to ease it, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance. Now my teeth were pretty "ok white" to start with, as I never drank coffee before then, etc., but I am anal and wanted them whiter, so I never really noticed a huge difference in the before and after and it seemed to fad a little. The home trays they gave me I use here and there, and I will frequently just sleep in them (which is more hours than you have to by far) and they have never hurt my gums or made my teeth sore.

If your teeth are pretty stained then go for it, but unless mine start to look horrid I rather not go through that sensitivity pain again (its just more annoying than anything, it never lasted long in one spot, maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time, but irritating nonetheless) . Good luck though!! Maybe urs will be different!!