Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

Lorian

Drink water instead of the diet coke, and just get them cleaned by your dentist. You'll save money both ways.

donteatthat

I bow to your superior knowledge of the tooth whitening process!

mda99das

Dr Wyman Chan, is a well known person in dental circles. Can't comment on his techniques as never personally been to his lectures, but I am hoping to go.

financegirl

Can anyone please reccomend good over the counter home teeth whitening kit. I think How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4 ut I can't remember the results. I really don't want to spend more than £20 either, if there are any denstist out there that could point me in the right direction that would be great.

thanks

X

donteatthat

There are no safe and effective OTC whitening kits as far as I'm aware I'm afraid. They tend to either be abrasive, or acidic, neither of which is good for the enamel, or able to change the colour of the teeth to make them whiter.
In fact, they can make your teeth yellower by thinning the enamel which becomes more translucent and shows through more dentine.
It really is something that must be supervised by a dentist.

financegirl

What do you think of teeth bleaching done by the dentists then? Is there any particular brands or methods that you would reccomend. I really want my teeth whitened!!:p

Toothsmith

Different methods will suit different people.

If you have crowns, or white fillings at the front of your mouth then whitening may be unsuitable altogether, unless you are prepared to have them all changed when your teeth get whiter (Whitening doesn't work on crowns, bridges, white fillings or veneers).

Also, if you need an other dental work, it's best done before whitening (Unless it involves crowns white fillings etc).

Best thing is to talk to your dentist about it at your next visit.

Avoid the OTC stuff though.

rach13

Firstly, I really want to get my teeth whitened but I am unsure of the different methods and which one is most suitable etc.

I have found a beauty salon in Belfast with the price originally £499 reduced to £249, so I dont want to miss the offer if it is worth it but because I have absolutely no idea about these sort of things! I wondered what other peoples opinions were...I dont want to reck my teeth by going in head first and not thinking this through.

Thanks in advance

This is what the website says...
Tooth Whitening Zen Power Laser Withening
Your brightest smile - in just 30min.

• Whitens teeth between five to 14 shades, with an average improvement of eight shades, in three consecutive 10 minute sessions
• Very effective for teeth that have been stained by smoking or by consuming staining substances such as coffee, tea, or red wine
• Also whitens teeth discolored by certain medicines, such as tetracycline, or speckled by fluoride

Every child starts off with beautiful white teeth, but strongly coloured foods and drink like coffee, tea, and cola can discolour the surface of your teeth. Just like white clothes which have picked up dyes and can never regain their original brightness, stained teeth are very difficult to whiten with conventional methods. Zen Power Whitening cleans both the surface and the internal structure of the teeth.
It only takes 30 minutes to return your smile to sparkling white. The most effective way of whitening teeth - without any side effects.
The Zen Power White cold-light tooth-whitening machine uses a narrow beam of high-intensity blue light with a wavelength of between 480 and 520 nanometres. A special optical process removes harmful infrared and ultraviolet light. A whitening fluid containing 35% hydrogen peroxide and 20-nanometer silicon dioxide rapidly oxidizes the entire surface of all 16 and more teeth in one short treatment, restoring them to a beautiful white.
1/2 price launch special:

Now only: £249,00
(normally £499)

donteatthat

I've checked the website out, it seems to me its a beauty salon and this treatment is not supervised by a dentist.
It is essential that tooth whitening is supervised by a dentist, if there are any problems with your teeth they could have permanent damage by this procedure, and a beauty therapist is not qualified to spot or treat you if things go wrong.

Toothsmith

If this is being provided by beauty therapists and not dentists, then don't touch the place with a bargepole, and report them to trading standards.

There have been several of these places setting up around the country. The General Dental Council are actively working with trading standards to shut them down.

The beauticians do a weekend course in toothwhitening at the most, and that in no way prepares them for the potential pitfalls and problems that providing such treatments to unsuitable teeth might cause.

There was a case in the papers recently about a lady who had been treated on a cruise ship, and had had her teeth permanently damaged.

Whitening requires the therapist to put her fingers in the mouth to carry out the proceedure. This makes it 'the practise of dentistry'. That, under the Dentist Act of 1984 can only be done by a qualified and registered dentist.

Plus - you can have it done at a proper dentist for a very similar price if you shop around a bit.

Best to ask your own dentist about it next time you go.