Teeth Whitening

What are some solid alternatives to getting the trays and bleach from your Dentist ? Do crest white strips work good ? Any place on the net that someone would be able to order some bleach for whitening that is prescription strength ?

I hate make a post without personal experience, but take it for what it’s worth, but in regards to the white strips, my brother tried them. He said he it whitened his teeth a bit. But he never did the whole thing because he said it made his gums extremely sore. For his limited use, he said it was quite temporary, only worked for about a month. I think the strips are quite temporary and have to do it a few times a year. I never did them as a result.

I’ve seen some brush-on gel+whitener advertised on the infomercials, but the name escapes me. It was different from most products as was not peroxide based.

A few years back, I questioned my dentist over whitening, and she mentioned there were two reasons for the yellowing of the teeth - one was staining e.g smoking, coffee, etc which seems to be common knowledge. The other was the wearing off of the “whiter” enamel covering the tooth over the years, exposing the “yellower” tooth below, and no whitening /cleaning technique could do anything as there was no staining to remove.

However, I never really investigated further, or even really question it, so maybe someone else could throw more light on the subject - maybe she was just BSing me because I was looking down her top as she leant over me.

I just saw a very promising product advertized that makes use of the latest method to use a whitening light to activate gel that you put on your teeth and it is a one step process that takes about an hour to complete. They sell you a hand held whitening light and enough gel product for 2 applications for $90 plus shipping. The web site is Thane.com. I think I might just give this one a try.

Nice thanks guys. I’ll check out that website tonight GP.

I used the crest strips for the full 2 weeks and was very pleased with the results. I never had a problem with gum irritation and hadn’t heard of it as a side-effect, so it might be a rare consequence. It’s not a temporary effect, they’ll stay white as long as you’re regularly brushing and not overly staining them with food and drink, and a whitening toothpaste certainly helps even more.

I have used the Crest strips too. I noticed a slight increase in whiteness. I’ve also had Brite-Smile and that really works but it’s quite expensive, as I recall ~$250, but that was several years ago. Thanks to my love of red wine, I’m in the market for a fix and I think I’ll try gprent101’s recommendation.

It’s funny to think how we’ve been conditioned, but eff it, it looks good.

My buddy works at a dental research lab. They have done extensive testing of whitening products over a period of two years.

The companies that make the blue light gizmos sell the setup to dentists for many thousands of dollars. (20-30K)

Lab tests involved using the whitening product with and without the blue light………….NO DIFFERENCE.

Before publishing their results the lab contacted the blue light boys, wanting to know what exactly effect the light was supposed to have. They were told that how it works is not known, it just works.

Righttttttt.

The active ingredient in all whitening products is peroxide. You can brush your teeth with it.

NOTE: Drano is not peroxide.

wantmo

wantmo
Have you ever had a Brite-Smile treatment? Man, I’ll tell you, after 1 hour, the result is amazing. And they used the light. I know the active ingredient in the Crest strips is peroxide, I can taste it and I use H2O4 for a mouth rinse after I brush and both give that tingling feeling on your gums.

Hey for $90 for two treatments, WTF.

I think your righttttt should have been riiiiiight.

bump

yup

I was happy with the crest white strips and they now have two types- I’d say use them as advised and then use them once a week or every other. I usually just use whitening toothpaste… remember overly white looks just as bad as too yellow… (think Tony Robbins)

IF you want the dentist prescribed one call around- The reason they are so expensive is the dentists make a huge profit on them. I know when I asked my dentist he was going to charge me less than half what I had been quoted elsewhere.

I use the crest white strips about twice a year. I would have to say, as a smoker and coffee drinker, they are amazing. I would have two cautions though: 1. if you use the 7 day treatment, be wary of sensitivity and 2. Do Not Overdo It! I did by mistake and noticed a bit of transparency on the eye-teeth. other than that, very good product. By the way, I accidentally used my girlfriends box thinking it was mine…did 10 days instead of the 7 because I lost track..transparency is common from overdoing it…lol..Str8

Good info thanks guys :)

Just saw a new product and was so impressed I ordered this one. It is called the ionic white and they are selling two systems for $80. It also uses a whitening light, but the light design is better then the Thane product and you get results even faster. Plus this system whitens all of your teeth on both front and back surfaces. Go to https://www.ionicwhite.com .