Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

brook2jack

This is terrible. I always see and fit trays as they are the most critical part of any system. Trays that are not right means gel leaches out and you get no whitening.

All systems can lead to sensitivity but there are a multitude of ways you can combat this eg alternating days with gel in trays and desensitising paste etc.

If you don't get a result you should have gone back to see dentist number one. If you pay a dentist to whiten your teeth then you are paying for their expertise to achieve that effect.

People get hung up on lights, "lasers", different makes etc but what they should be looking for is a good dentist who will take the time to make sure you have the right,appropriate,healthy and effective treatment.

You are going from dentist to dentist spending more and more money and still not achieving what you want. My opinion is if you have paid £200 or whatever to a dentist for whitening it is not reasonable for them to provide you with one syringe and an incomplete result.

welshdent

I am with brook ch0ccy ... fwiw you may have found voco 15% would work as well as enlighten ... the key is in the percentages. I generally find 10% needs to be worn a little longer .... but if you were not given a demo you arent to know that. I also think its unwise for them to give a guarantee like that. Its the human body not a car we are dealing with. Sometimes things will only do so much. I absolutely agree with you about wanting it done properly and with limited information (I dont mean that to be patronising, you are going on what you thought was good info I know) you chose a named system. From my perspective as someone that often provides whitening to patients, the name of the bleach is irrelevant as its all the same stuff. THe important aspects are initial diagnosis to make sure you are informed, good tray manufacture and a good briefing to the patient about what they are meant to do. Was it your own dentist that gave you the voco? I am not sure if you have spoken to them or not?

welshdent

it will damage enamel which is more serious as gums repair - enamel doesnt

brook2jack

Personally speaking I always book patients in for two week reviews and more ,if necessary, so I can check on progress and change things around if there's a problem and check gums etc healthy and people are still flossing.

Whitening should not be a one visit and forget treatment in my opinion.

ch0ccy

welshdent wrote: »

I am with brook ch0ccy ... fwiw you may have found voco 15% would work as well as enlighten ... the key is in the percentages. I generally find 10% needs to be worn a little longer .... but if you were not given a demo you arent to know that. I also think its unwise for them to give a guarantee like that. Its the human body not a car we are dealing with. Sometimes things will only do so much. I absolutely agree with you about wanting it done properly and with limited information (I dont mean that to be patronising, you are going on what you thought was good info I know) you chose a named system. From my perspective as someone that often provides whitening to patients, the name of the bleach is irrelevant as its all the same stuff. THe important aspects are initial diagnosis to make sure you are informed, good tray manufacture and a good briefing to the patient about what they are meant to do. Was it your own dentist that gave you the voco? I am not sure if you have spoken to them or not?

No the voco was from my previous dentist, it was around September last year when I stayed with family for a few weeks. Just before I came back I started the whitening treatment and I phoned the clinic afterward, insisted on speaking to the dentist herself, was told the sensitivity was normal and to finish the gels before going to her for a checkup. Problem was it was unbearable for my teeth & some parts of my gums that I stopped using the gels after a week and half. Didn't have the time to make the 2.5 hour trip for a checkup after that so put it down to stupidity tax.

I'm annoyed at myself that despite doing all the research I can, I'm still not much better off than I was before the treatments.

Heard back from a lovely Enlighten adviser; she has never heard of a dentist not offering the full treatment was shocked I only got one syringe for two weeks, said it was definitely not enough. The Enlighten whitening system always consists of 2 syringes - one 10% CP for the first week and a 16% CP for the second week, followed by in surgery whitening. They're still looking into it and hopefully I'll get an update within a couple of days.

brook2jack

Phone the surgery direct and tell them what you have learned. There is no substitute. Enlighten are just the suppliers of one system and have no hold over the dentist other than to stop supplying gels, and to be Frank in today's financial climate are they likely to do that on the basis of one complaint? Even if they do there are plenty of other gels the dentist can buy.

Be polite but firm... They advertised enlighten whitening at £200 but have failed to follow the protocol advised by company and are asking for additional payment . If you really dont want to go back ask for a partial refund but I really think you are placing a little too much faith in the distributor of this product but I would be delighted and amazed if they come through for you.

londondent

Hi choccy
Sorry to hear about your whitening problems.
I have been using enlighten for almost all my cases for over a year, and I achieve some very good results. However, thats just what works for me. Like brook2jack and welshdent have said – the right product for the right person. As you have found out, Evolution Home whitening always comes with 2 syringes of 5ml whitening Gel.
Just to sort out all this confusion with enlighten products, There are 3 different ones –
1. RAMP
2. EVOLUTION HOME
3. EVOLUTION EXTREME (home and inoffice whitening with B1 guarentee).

I won’t bother going into RAMP, as I hear enlighten are planning to phase it out.
Evolution home is a 2 week home whitening kit USUALLY containing TWO syringes of 5ml Gel.
Evolution Extreme – the B1 guarentee product which involves 14 days home whitening and then an inoffice session with 9% HP for 40 mins on the 15th day.

As others have said, I think your dentist needs to address your problems. Just because something is on offer, does not entitle them to water it down and give it to you, and then tell you to pay more when it doesn’t work properly, especially when they haven’t given you both the syringes.
The other problem that you have had, which may have possibly misled you, is when you ring practices to ask about enlighten, the reception team may not fully understand the products that they offer and at what prices. I know it happens, because it happened just last week at my practice, and it was my practice manager who got it wrong! Another problem is your dentist not being clear with you as to what exactly was involved, and what parts of the enlighten product you were getting.
Tooth whitening is not an exact science, and there can never be any guarentees to the degree of whitening, and peoples teeth will respond differently even with the same products. Sometimes it just means doing it a bit longer. Saying that I believe you’re well within your rights to get that 2nd syringe of gel that you need.
May I suggest that you contact the practice in question and kindly suggest that they may have given you the incorrect number of syringes, as the kit normally comes with two.

Just out of curiosity, did the dentist spend time showing you how to use the trays and load them with whitening gel? Also did u get the desentizing swabs, and a tooth Serum toothpaste to use whilst having whitening. And was it even supplied in the proper patient box?

ch0ccy

I initially emailed Enlighten, who sent me a list of 9 dentists in my area that offered Enlighten Evolution, and having googled around, 14 days home whitening + in surgery seemed to be the standard. I then phoned all of the clinics to ask about prices which was what lead me to this special offer. If I had known it was only home whitening without the in surgery part I definitely would have gone elsewhere.

The dentist did check the fit of the trays, but the first time I went to collect them the bottom tray was too loose, so he retook the bottom impressions and sent it off. Second attempt was a closer fit. He gave me all 3 trays but I only used the top + 2nd bottom tray. I was also shown to load about 1/4 to 1/3, no more than 1/2, of each tooth with gel before wearing the trays. He didn't mention the in surgery whitening part, or tell me how many syringes I'd get, which I thought was because I'd need to tell him when the whitening has been finished.

In total I was given - trays (not made by Enlighten I later found out as the case doesn't have an E logo), a syringe of corsodyl for me to practise with, 1 blue 16% CP Enlighten gel, moulds of my teeth, and a piece of paper with instructions. There was no way he could have mistaken the corsodyl for a tube of Enlighten since he specially said "you can use this to practise first in case you overfill and waste the whitening gel."

During my visit yesterday he got out the shade chart + fake teeth on sticks (??), said the top of my teeth are around B1, but due to different thicknesses of enamel they're uneven, and the only solution is to buy & use more gel. It seemed to me that as far as he's concerned my teeth have whitened, which is correct because they've gone up several shades and the bottom half of my top teeth are a big contrast with my crown, but if I wanted the parts close to my gums to match the other half I'd need to pay extra.

londondent

Ah ok, i think i slightly misunderstood you on your previous post.

Is it that the tooth itself is not evenly whitened? as you said, the tip of the tooth is much whiter than at the neck of the tooth (the bit nearer the gum)?

If so, then u may be out of luck. The enamel changes in thickness from the neck to the tip, and correct me if im wrong other dentists, but i dont think furthur whitening will improve the situation much furthur. There may be a slight improvement, but im not sure if you'll get it all the same colour.

When did u finish the whitening? i normally find that immediately after the whitening, there are specks and frosty areas, that usually even out over the next few days.

Anyway, see if u can get that second syringe of gel from the practice, and try it out anyway.

ch0ccy

I finished whitening last Thursday, still haven't had any coloured food or drinks since.

It's difficult to describe what my teeth are like, so I found a picture a google to help with descriptions On the left, the central incisor is darker at the top and lighter at the bottom about 50/50, the lateral incisor is slightly darker overall just like the canine and first premolar, they all have the top half darker than the bottom half, so if I smile with my mouth half open they look fine, otherwise you can tell there's a difference in colour. On the right, central incisor = crown, lateral incisor is about 60/40 dark/light, canine and first premolar are about 50/50 but with these 2 teeth, right at the very top right next to my gums there's an even darker line, which seems to have been caused by those part of the tray not sitting as high up as the other teeth. I noticed this after a few days and tried to use a little bit more gel for these teeth, but unless I pushed my top tray right up and kept it like that, the part really close to my gums would be just out of reach of the gel.

Also, when my dentist compared my teeth with his B1 tooth on a stick, he only compared it with the central incisor and the bottom 2 (central incisors too?) saying the rest will catch up a little if I used more gel on them. And I will try to get hold of him before he goes away.