Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

Toothsmith

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.

Chinese Proverb

robowen

Toothsmith wrote:

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.

Chinese Proverb

Ever wondered why China has only recently started to become a developing nation ?
years and years after the rest of the world :think:

Because......the chinese were sat at home making little proverbs for fools to believe !!

The rest of us were out grafting for a living instead.

rob

Willowrose_2

In my opinion as a dentist toothsmith has given excellent advice. Always ask your dentist about the likelyhood of a sucessful out come to tooth whitening and then decide which system you want. In my experience the power systems which use high concentrations of the ingredient for a one off treatment can lead to a lot of sensitivity. The best system involves having trays made by the dentist and then a choice of strengths of gels from the dentist. You can have 10% 16% or 22% in my experience the tray system works very well and patients can keep the trays and buy extra gel to top up with when they want to. The gel should only cost about 15-20£ to buy. I work in a deprived area and the people who go for tooth whitening are usually very pleased with the results. I could not continue to offer it as a treatment choice if I did not feel people were getting value for money.

princess

Crest white strips -£10ish from ebay or bring them back with you from holiday. They seem to be available more or less everywhere tho not in the uk. http://www.whitestrips.com/global/index.jsp.
I have achieved really great results with them and lots of people have commented on my added whiteness! I would really recommend this product.

wendytiggermad

I often wondered what these kits were like then i came across one in a shop called Home Bargains it was £2.99 so i purchased one to try... and WOW what a difference on the first use, my teeth were visibly whiter and my teeth felt lovely and clean, i was well impressed so back i went and purchased 2 more kits for future use. BTW This one is a non peroxide formula :j

Toothsmith

If it's non peroxide, what is it's active ingredient?

loopy_lass

oooo ... tempers are a little fraught on here i c... dont know if this has been posted so shoot me down in flames, but i use the beverly hills whitening toothpaste. from the taste it has bicarb in it. it appears to have helped as i didnt need a scale at the dentist last visit.
expensive stuff in boots etc. but wilkos (wilkinsons) do it A LOT cheaper

hth loops

Caz2_2

Toothsmith can you tell me what you think of this, my tooth whitening cost nothing but i fear it may be damaging to my teeth. They go really discoloured every month, i am a big tea drinker and dare i say it, a smoker. I use the eye end of a needle to scratch it all off, they look great immediatley. I asked my dentist and she said it won't take the enamel off and to do what works. I have also used loads of different toothpaste whitners and they are crap. I occasionally brush them hard with salt and that works as well. In your opinion am i doing damage and what is the best toothpaste on the market, i brush mine about 5 times a day.

Thankyou
PS all other moneysavers i am not advocating the use of needles, just what i do

Toothsmith

That's actually not too bad at all Caz, but be careful!

Keep well away from the gums and only use very light pressure.

Some bits of tea staining I can get off peoples teeth with my probe. Similar really!

SAT MORNING EDIT!

I posted this in a bit of a rush last night (Off out to celebrate Mrs. TS's 40th!!!)

This would ONLY be suitable for very small areas of light external staining such as tea or coffee. If the stain has any depth to it, or is caused by early decay on the enamel surface, you'll be scratching off tooth enamel, and that's BAD. Try scratching at it with a fingernail. It would be much harder to damage tooth substance with a fingernail.

Best to ask your own dentist first.

hrafndot

I saw reference to Bicarb of soda (baking powder) earlier. I use it once or twice a week and find it brilliant at getting rid of coffee/wine yellowing. I wonder if long term use damages gums? Thks if you can answer.