cost cutting with teeth...

welshdent

Noooo dont do any group on offers of any sort. Firstly they are usually prescribed by non dental registrants thus illegal and also you may end up throwing good money away on the wrong thing for you. For example I am not a believer in "laser" whitening working at all so it can be as cheap as you like, it still wont work. Massive thread on it. Personally I think the best way to get whitening is via custom made trays that you wear for a few hours a day containing fresh carbamide peroxide gel.

Get to your own dentist. Explain what you want to achieve and ask to be referred on to someone that can do it. Thats the one and only message you need to take away from this. People that know you and your history and can see you face to face for an examination.

ali-t

Ok, thanks. I will delete that e-mail then!

londondent

Ali, whitening can work n tetracycline staining, I know as I have done this for one of my patients, with pretty good results.

Don't waste your time with groupon/ email offers for laser whitening for £69/99. It's a complete waste of money.

Whitening does work, it'll just take time! Be patient.

My recommendation would be to see someone who's very experienced with tooth whitening procedures. If your close to London, I would recommend seeing Linda greenwall - she has written many articles/ books on the subject.

ps. £1100 per tooth is expensive, but typical for a high profile cosmetic dentist.

ali-t

Quick update, I went to see my own nhs dentist for advice about tooth whitening and she suggested giving it a shot advising me that my teeth will never be white but it could reduce some staining.

I had the trays made and started using them with 10% carbamide gel. I got the trays and 12 syringes in a pack for £260.

I am really pleased to say that I am noticing a difference and that my teeth are getting closer to the colour of a white (well actually yellow) filling I have in a front tooth. This is probably not noticeable to other people but very noticeable to me and having a positive impact on my smile confidence.

I do have sensitive teeth but haven't had any sensitivity at all. I have been using the new sensodyne toothpaste that claims to fill in the holes that cause sensitivity and don't know if that is the cause of pain free whitening but it has been a pain free, hassle free process.

My dentist was a bit non-committal about the difference that could be made using trays but I might keep on going after the 10 days. Any feedback on whether a stronger gel would help with progress?

I am not giving up on perfect teeth but this is helping me on my journey.

Toothsmith

I seem to have missed this thread (It was started while I was on holiday).

I'm glad your own dentist is able to help you ali and I'm glad you've gone down the (proper) whitening route and not getting yourself treated for 'porcelain deficiency disease' which some detists are a bit too quick to diagnose!

It looks like the fashions for wall-to-wall porcelainis beginning to wither as people become aware of the long term implications of such treatments (which the dentists committing them really should have pointed out to the patients a little more clearly!)

I have posted a link here to the website of a dentist called Martin Kelleher. The link is to the page where he has listed the articles he's written on the subject of the 'Makeover' cosmetic treatments which he is passionately against.

http://www.martinkelleher.co.uk/articles.html

These articles are well worth a read by anybody considering such treatments - and in my opinion should be given out to patients by all dentists recommending such treatments.

I've put the link to his site on here just as it's a convienient link to all those articles, not as a recommendation to go and see him. I have no idea if he's convienient for you anyway, and it looks like your own dentist is doing a perfectly good job.

But there are 'cosmetic' dentists out there who do believe in doing things properly, and put the Health of the teeth as the priority, rather than smashing the natural stuff to bits in order to put shiny bits of fragile porcelain on instead!

You just have to look carefully for them. Looking through Martin's articles will give people a much more informed idea of what to look for and what to ask.

Incidentally, if anybody is near him, I would thoughroughly recommend him! If you read the article about the 'Daughter Test' - I would certainly have no hesitation in sending my daughter to him if a. I had a daughter, and b. she had a problem I thought he could help with!

ali-t

Thanks for those links, I'll have a read of them later.

Since I started the bleaching last weekend I gave up my beloved diet coke and a few other foods that might stain but have noticed a serious reduction in my appetite. I read that one of the side effects can be stomach upsets if the gel is swallowed but has anyone had feedback from patients or friends about people losing the desire to eat when using This? It is a very welcome side effect as I need to drop a few lbs lol

Fire_Fox

ali-t wrote: »

Thanks for those links, I'll have a read of them later.

Since I started the bleaching last weekend I gave up my beloved diet coke and a few other foods that might stain but have noticed a serious reduction in my appetite. I read that one of the side effects can be stomach upsets if the gel is swallowed but has anyone had feedback from patients or friends about people losing the desire to eat when using This? It is a very welcome side effect as I need to drop a few lbs lol

It could easily be the effect of the changes to your diet, caffeine and certain sweeteners can cause appetite changes due to effects on the digestive system and/ or peaks and troughs in blood sugar.

Toothsmith

I'd agree that this is far more likely to be an effect of giving up the diet coke (which can dehydrate you by sucking water out of your body into the gut to try and dilute down the artificial sugar molecules).

Certainly far more likey than the tiny amount of gel you might swallow in normal usage of the gels.

thehappybutterfly

I use the trays and gels too and my appetite is reduced while I'm using them - not literally using them, I don't mean eating while they're in! I think it's psychological - I'm so pleased with the results, I don't want to risk staining them so I always avoid curries, red wine, strong coloured juice like cranberry etc. I tend to eat a very bland diet for a few weeks just in case. My teeth do tend to hurt for a couple of days so that's another reason I eat less.

I just found this thread and I'm so pleased you didn't go for the veneers in the end. They're so fake and 'Katie Price'! I once asked my dentist about them and he refused to do them and proceeded to explain to me in graphic detail what actually happens to your teeth when prepping for veneers - not nice!

Toothsmith

Keep that dentist and recommend him/her to all your friends!!