Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

SparkyG

danjaq2004 wrote:

My dentist will charge me £295 for the trays and some tubes of the gel and thereafter £17 for a tube - good prices I thought ... ?

That is a bit more than my dentist charged. Mine was £250 and £15 for each replacement syringe, but I think they come in packs of 10, as when I enquired from the receptionist I was told £150. If you go ahead, once you have used up your initial supply go to dentist.net. They are a very reputable company and the products are exactly the same composition as the ones supplied by dentists in this country.

I have since seen other local dentists offering home bleaching trays for £150. There is a growing competition out there, and if you don't mind going to a different dentist you could get your custom trays much cheaper. Personally, even if I had seen an offer like tha tI wouldn't have gone for it, as I want to stay on good terms with my excellent dentist

HTH

Lady_K

SparkyG wrote:

Try https://www.dentist.net I have been using them for ages,and the service is excellent and as secure as anything can be in this day and age!:rolleyes:

I don't buy whitestrips, but use dentist.net for buying replacement syringes for my dentist made bleaching trays. I buy 16% excel nite white and get very good results. It is about one third of the price of the ones sold by my dentist. He knows I buy them from the internet and doesn't mind. In fact I actually told him I don't mind paying him for his expertise and time, (the original bleaching kit cost £250) but I don't want to pay £150 just for some plastic syringes with a bit of bleach in them!! He found that pretty funny and we're still on good terms

Thanx

My daughters dentist said that she would make trays for her at a cost of £40 a tray so that's £80 for the trays. Yet when you ask at the same dentist what it costs for tray tooth whitening its about £400 so it doesnt add up too well there, I don't know why its so expensive. The dentist said she shouldn't really tell her this but she would get the whitening stuff from the internet much cheaper but I was a little caucious about this seeing as everything can be faked these days.

I looked on that site and couldn't find exactly where the one you spoke of was but why do you use that one out of so much choice? Is this a UK company? What is the difference between carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide?

Her teeth are a bit darker in some places than others eg side teeth are yellower than the front. When using these trays is it easy to concentrate more on those areas if she finds just those parts need doing extra time? I was wondering if the strips may suit her better because she could place them were needed if they wanted extra. Her friend is also a dental assistant and said she could get the tubes or whatever cheaper but shes not sure what to ask for, what strengths etc

I thought oxygenating types were better and safer than bleach? Can you get that anywhere?

danjaq2004

I called the British Dental Health Foundation's Word of Mouth Helpline on 0870 333 1188, this morning.

Independent and impartial advise and I thought, very helpful. We chatted about Crest strips and the consensus was that they were an option, although illegal to buy in the UK (hence no UK suppliers). Various strength peroxide available, although UK dentists only use 10% (even during surgery) whereas some of the Crest ones were higher. She pointed out that you could find it fiddly and the results could be uneven (like trying to cut your own hair). Also, chance for gum irritation too, so not an exact art.

Up to you what you decide to do, I would prefer to do it professionally by a dentist (trays method). So, on this point, it would be good to know if another local dentist would make them for less ...

SparkyG

danjaq2004 wrote:

Various strength peroxide available, although UK dentists only use 10% (even during surgery) ..

Not sure about that as my dentist used 16% for my home kit, and uses 35% for in surgery bleaching, which is usual. I understand that in the US safety tests have only been conducted on 10% strength gel, which isn't to say that higher strengths are dangerous. I mistakenly bought 22% from dentist.net and my dentist was horrified and told me not to use it!! :eek:

I am happy with his reccommendation of 16% carbamide peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide strengths are not directly comparable. I believe they are stronger, but not sure on that..

SparkyG

Lady_K wrote:

Thanx


I looked on that site and couldn't find exactly where the one you spoke of was but why do you use that one out of so much choice? Is this a UK company? What is the difference between carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide?

When you get into dentist.net click on 'teeth whitening' then go down to 'nite white'. The one I use is Nite White Excel 3, 16%. I tried their generic unbranded syringes once, and while they were just as effective, the gel consistency was poor, and they didn't taste very good. No, it's not a UK company, but the delivery is excellent, usually within a week, and the shipping charges are reasonable, making it money saving to buy from them. Sorry, don't know the difference between carbamide and hydrogen peroxide, but I do know that their strengths are not directly comparable. I stick with carbamide peroxide because that was the one my dentist originally provided for me. I first heard about dentist.net from an American cosmetic dentistry forum which is very active and informative. It's https://www.aboutcosmeticdentistry.com Worth asking on there as they have professionals posting.

Lady_K wrote:

When using these trays is it easy to concentrate more on those areas if she finds just those parts need doing extra time?

Very easy to do some teeth more than others. Just wear the trays with gel applied in the teeth indentations that need extra whitening.

Lady_K wrote:

Thanx

I thought oxygenating types were better and safer than bleach? Can you get that anywhere?

Sorry, don't know anything about oxygenating types of whitening.

HTH

Toothsmith

I use 10% or 15% carbamine peroxide in custom trays depending on the case.

In -Practice techniques do use 35%, but you need really good gum masking for these sort of strengths. I don't do In Practice methods. (I find it a bit scary!)

Lady_K

SparkyG

Thankyou very much for your helpful posts I think with this my daughter will go with having her dentist do the trays and she will get some of the carbamide one you use or similar. Especially now you have explained how easy it is to treat chosen areas that sounds very good, that website looks useful too, thankyou

Tootsmith

When you say in surgery treatment is 35% do you mean the laser treatment? as that isnt the same as tray treatment is it. Or do you mean they use it in the trays and put gum protection on aswell at the same time? I guess the ones that SparkyG is speaking of would not need the gum protection then coz if so that would be fiddly at home

My daughter was on minocyclin for treatment of acne for about 18 months to 2 years, one per day and I think that effects tooth colour too. Do you think this will still help her though? Some of it could also be because she loves very hot currys and red wine though

SparkyG

I actually started with in surgery whitening. The equipment my dentist uses has halogen lamps, not laser. There was quite a lot of discussion on the cosmetic dentistry board about whether or not light, laser or otherwise, has any effect on speeding up the whitening process. Some of the American cosmetic dentists who post said the light has no effect whatsoever, and is just a marketing gimmick!

My in surgery treatment cost £340 and consisted of 35% bleach being applied 3 times, each session being 20 minutes. Yes, the dentist did shield my gums with a guard and gel. However, the treatment only lightened my teeth about 2 shades, and the dentist was as disappointed as I was . Because he's a really good bloke, :cool: he said to come back in 2 weeks (to allow for any re-hydration) and he would either do it again, or provide me with an 'at home' kit free of charge. It was my choice!

I opted for the 'at home trays' and haven't looked back since

In my opinion, from my personal experience, I would go for the home kit. After all, if you have the in surgery whitening you don't then have any means of 'topping it up' when necessary. Unless you have major dental work, the bleaching trays should fit and last for a very long time.

GameOver_2

Hey

I have found this website that offer a treatment for tooth whitening, and would love to hear your opinions on it please, its 50 pounds, and i desperatly need to whiten my teeth, so please take a look and let me know what you think.......

http://www.allwhite3000.co.uk/teeth%...%20results.htm

Thanks

Matt

Toothsmith

I would love to see the 'Hand Held Plasma Light'!

The ones in dental practices cost thousands, and there is some debabte about how effective the 'light' actually is in these cases!

I doubt it's much more than an LED torch! Which would be useless.

I would not trust a member of the public to accurately mould and trim a tray. I leave it to my technician, as even I struggle a bit!

It says in the blurb that an 'accurate fit is necessary to prevent gum irritation'. I would say a perfect fit is essential if you want to avoid permanent gum damage.

God knows the strength of the gel, but if they feel a 'remineralising paste' is necessary then even they must be worried about it demineralising the teeth.

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole unless you have several hundred pounds put by to fix any damage caused. And if you have - then spend a fraction of it getting yourself properly assessed for tooth whitening and having it done properly.