Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

red_bertie

Had to go on an emergency visit to my dentist today and he had a notice up offering Xmas 'treat' of DIY kit supplied by him, can't remember exact price [mind on pain!] but was under £300.00. I guess other dentists would supply these kits?

speranza

I've had quite a lot of dental work done recently - a couple of fillings and a root canal on the NHS. I've now switched to a private cosmetic dentist to have some cosmetic work done. The main thing is my teeth are quite yellow and I wanted to get them whitened, but I've now had three different whitening treatments and seen virtually no improvement.

The first was LA Smile laser whitening done at a beauty salon, which I now realise was a stupid thing to do. It cost £300 and I saw almost no change. Next, my dentist gave me mouth trays and 16% carbamide peroxide, which improved them slightly but the overall tone was still yellow. This also cost £300.

At my new dentist he suggested I get the Zoom "power whitening" done, which was £500. It took an hour and I did see a big improvement, but it was very painful for about a day after and within a few days my teeth had faded back close to where they were before.

I know I'm not imagining the lack of change because I have a crown that was put in several years ago so I can compare the teeth to that and there's only a slight difference. Now my teeth feel really sensitive and are a bit translucent so I'm worried that all the whitening has damaged them.

However I know I'm not going to be happy to leave them this colour because they make me extremely self-conscious and, as vain as it is, I want a white smile! I'm not prepared to throw more money at whitening, but I'm very reluctant to get veneers/crowns as I know they'll need to be replaced a lot (I'm 24) and I don't really like the idea of "losing" my teeth.

So...are there any more options or do I just have to have veneers or nothing? The dentist mentioned being able to "build up" teeth and make them whiter using filling, but I'm not sure if I understood what he meant. I do trust him though, he's been very thorough in doing full x-rays and examining my teeth and he's certainly not encouraging me to get veneers.

Toothsmith

My best advice would be to go with the recommendations of the dentist you trust. He seems very thorough.

The white filling option is like a cheaper way to veneer teeth, and as generally nothing is taken off the tooth to do this, it is easily reversible. It is a bit weaker than proper veneering though, so they will need redoing more often. It could be used as a way of seeing what your teeth might look like with veneers though, before committing yourself to porcelain.

Any more specific advice that this, I couldn't give without seeing you. I would be guided by your existing dentist though, and ask all the questions you need to until everything is completely clear to you. He shouldn't mind answering your questions at all.

loates123

i only used them once did not think much of them so never used them since.

skyrocket

if you only used them the once i'm not surprised you werent impressed!
you have to use the box and trust me you will see the results!

princess

I love this product. I used them for about a week a couple of years ago and got sooooo many compliments. Now I just use them once (a single application) every 3 months or so and that is enough to keep my teeth looking great.

Rachie_B

where do you get them from ?

skyrocket

You can get them from ebay Rachie. I get the Supreme ones as they are the strongest. I do two back-to-back and then leave it a day rather than do them every day. Also get yourself some good sensitive toothpaste in case you get sensitive teeth!

Toothsmith

Can I just point out that the reason you can't buy Crest Whitestrips in the shops in this country is because the product isn't licensed here.

Buying stuff like this from Ebay is fraught with possible risks.

Products like this can be faked. The fakes might (If you're lucky) be useless. If you're unlucky they could be harmful. There was a case of a poisonous supply of Sensodyne toothpaste just a few months ago.

As I said above, I cannot recommend Crest Whitestrips.

freejunkie

hiya all HAPPY NEW YEAR :beer:
i am wondering if anyone has tried to whiten their teeth with any home whitening kits? what did u use? cos i am currently using Dr Georges dental whitening. im on the 6th day and my teeth are so sensitive right now i think im going to give this one a miss. (if anyone has fillings its like 'chewing' metal foil YYYeow!)
i never experience sensitivy with this before today.............any tips?
thanx in advance :T