Whitening Teeth

frantic_mel

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone had any tips on getting really white teeth. I find using pearl drops ok, i did hear of using bread soda. Lots of advice needed, lol there that yellow. Ugh

Sleepy

You can buy whitening kits in Dunnes that apparently do quite a good job. They work off the same principle as the one the dentists use: basically they erode a thin layer of enamel from your teeth. About €20 or so for the kit and you can't use them that regularly but it's a LOT cheaper than professional bleaching.

Beruthiel

tbh something like this should be discussed with your dentist, if you take too much of your enamel off then you are just digging a hole for yourself and causing more problems in the long run

Nala

Don't smoke, and avoid tea and coffee, these will all stain your teeth.

Linoge

Originally posted by Sleepy
You can buy whitening kits in Dunnes that apparently do quite a good job. They work off the same principle as the one the dentists use: basically they erode a thin layer of enamel from your teeth. About €20 or so for the kit and you can't use them that regularly but it's a LOT cheaper than professional bleaching.

Afaik, dentists wouldn't do that in a fit! They bleach your teeth, which in effect only provides short term whitening. What erodes your teeth is toothpaste with tiny silica crystals like pearl drops or any colgate, macleans whitening etc toothpaste.

The kit that I think your talking about is a bleaching kit. It will bleach the yellow. The best thing I think is an electric toothbrush, or better yet an ultrasonic toothbrush. I've got one and I think that my teeth are a bit whiter, but they weren't that stained to begin with.

If your looking for that Hollywood smile I say forget about it! Teeth are naturally an off white colour. If you want ultra white I'd say you'd have to spend a couple of hundred quid with your dentist.

Sleepy

I stand corrected Linoge.

red_ice

i smoke pipe tobaco... i drink shit loads of tea... far more that what you would think is alot. about 3 cups an hour!

My nickname in work is tetly ffs!

I stand in front of the mirror and brush once normally, rince, get warm water and brush with that, rince, rince with warm water, wash again with paste and rince.

My teeth are like new mate

It really comes down to you brushing regularly. I brush 2 times a day 3/4 nights a week. The other nights when im going out i brush before that too.

You only have one chance with your teeth, so use it wisely!

make sure you push your gums back to whats right for your teeth, ask your dentist that..

ive spent 4k on my teeth, and im not blowing anymore on em

positron

My teeth are discoloured big time. Its yellowish off-white. Disgusting (IMO) really, but others seems to be more supportive. I was told that this is a side effect of some high tetracycline dosage (I had asthma first 7 yrs of my life), and its just something I will have to live with – or I could try veneering may be, but I couldn’t be a*sed!

secret_squirrel

Originally posted by Linoge
If you want ultra white I'd say you'd have to spend a couple of hundred quid with your dentist.

Actually it was around 400 yoyos last time my dentist wanted to flog it to me. That was the laser/ultrasonic (i forget which) treatment tho thats meant to last longer.

dudara

I wouldn't dream of using a bleach on my teeth, or stripping off a layer of enamel. Teeth aren't meant to be snowy white anyway. That's why all those americans look so scary with their big luminescent teeth.

My dentist just polished mine recently, and they were definitely a little whiter afterwards. But that's as far as I go.

Nala

Spend about 10 minutes brushing your teeth *really* well (i.e. each tooth individually) 2-3 times a day with a regular whitening toothpaste (I use Colgate Deep-Clean). It won't give you snow-white teeth,but it *will* make a difference. It's just a matter of changing your brushing technique.

I'd love teeth like this...unfortunately I haven't a few grand to spare...

flamegrill

Originally posted by neev
I'd love teeth like this...unfortunately I haven't a few grand to spare...

Yeah .. she has em ... nice teeth

d4r3n

that arm and hammer stuff is quite good, tastes a bit manky to start off with but after a while you dont notice the taste anymore.

bleaching costs around 500 or so in northbrook i think, with bleaching though it needs to be redone every couple of years, 2-3 i think it is.

Kernel32

Once you have the trays made for bleaching them the cost each time you want to do it is much cheaper, all you need to do is buy more bleach. The trays should last for years once you have them made and thats what most of the initial cost is.

][cEMAN**

Originally posted by neev
Spend about 10 minutes brushing your teeth *really* well (i.e. each tooth individually) 2-3 times a day with a regular whitening toothpaste (I use Colgate Deep-Clean). It won't give you snow-white teeth,but it *will* make a difference. It's just a matter of changing your brushing technique.

I'd love teeth like this...unfortunately I haven't a few grand to spare...

To be honest though that's more to do with the incredibly bright lights shining in her face than anything else. Check out the molars down the sides and you'll see they're more an off white/yellowish colour.

Just clean regularly. Oh and chewing gum regularly after meals (if you can't brush) seems to help as well. I don't really put a lot of effort into my teeth in the way of specialised toothpaste or OTT cleaning meathods - just clean twice a day and chew gum after meals, and people tend to make a point of how white my teeth are.

Oh yeah, and i'm not adverse to going to the dentist every few months for a regular checkup and a quick clean. Nothing special, as I don't generally ask for a polish or anything just a cleaning. That seems to work fine.

tricky D

Brush well, thoroughly, methodically (>10 brushes per tooth) and often, don't brush too hard or with abrasives (pearl drops etc). You want to clean the stuff off your teeth only and not erode the lovely white enamel.

Cut down/out on nico, coffee, choc, tea etc.

Use floss or dental tape (big floss) properly, don't use a sawing action, you're not trying to saw your gums to bits, you're trying to lift schtuff from the hard to reach, in betweeney bits that brushing alone can't get to, so use a up (mainly) and down lifting action.

Use an electric toothbrush, but max once a day and again with mild pressure so as not rip your gums and erode enamel, but to lift the plaque off, otherwise use a brush.

Visit the hygenist for a clean every 6/12 months. If you want a right kick up the arse, ask the hygenist to show the stuff removed, that'll scare the daylights outta you into paying more care.

Dentist bleaching is a Bad Thing(tm), pricey, tied into going every 6ish months and it doesn't actually address the issue properly. Some dentists treat it as a licence to print euros, mine hates it as an ineffective ripoff.
=
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Static M.e.

Trickey D

Who is your Dentist ? is s/he in Dublin ?

I need to find a good dentist / hygiest in dublin for me check ups etc

Thanks

Kernel32

Originally posted by tricky D
Dentist bleaching is a Bad Thing(tm), pricey, tied into going every 6ish months and it doesn't actually address the issue properly. Some dentists treat it as a licence to print euros, mine hates it as an ineffective ripoff.
=
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All good advice, but I am confused by bleaching. Bleaching is expensive but I don't understand why you are tied in to going every 6 months. Once you have the cast done and the trays made to fit your teeth you can bleach at home, at least thats what my dentist tells me and my wife already had some made. The initial expense is in getting that done, after that its not too bad. This is in the US though but I doubt its much different in Ireland, it costs $25 or so to get a bleach top up if you want to do another treatment.

ThreadKiller

Get yourself a decent electric toothbrush, one that costs upwards of €80, preferably one of the sonic ones...

You'll notice a difference within about 30 days...

patto_chan

I once wondered about tooth bleaching or cosmetic work such as caps. I recollect my dentist saying that some forms of enamel discolouration are the result of a reaction from childhood innoculations. Anyone else hear this?

ur mentor

Has someone commented to you or is it your own idea about your teeth.
Mine were wiped out by antibiotics as a child. Bleaching etc does help but does not cure. to be honest my friends family etc dont really care.
Beauty is deep.:)

neXus9

I heard that Tom Cruise has porcelain capped teeth. Wouldn't see them standing up against a punch.

The_Conductor

I'd be a little wary of the advice to brush teeth for upwards of 10 minutes- you can do more damage over brushing your teeth than under brushing.

I used to have the most awful yellow teeth ever (in my own mind anyway). A combination of eating too much sugary food and not brushing my teeth regularly. I have never gotten any of the dental whitening jobbies done- what I do is brush gently twice a day (with cafreegel), use a tooth pick to remove any stray food after meals, and I use listerine in the evening.

Most yellow teeth are caused by buildup of plaque (which also does other damage) along with discolouration from caffeine/nicoteine etc.

Tackle it slowly- and be realistic, and you will notice a difference over time.

Shane

whosurpaddy

dose anyone else notice their teeth becoming more white as the day goes on? mine can be quite discolored in the mornings, but when i go to give them their evening brush their pretty white.

not_sure

i just got mine done by the dentist, 400 Euro oh they are brillant white now, glad i spent the money well worth it!!

vishal

one of the side effects of professional bleaching is a disease call external resorption. this is where clastic cells resorb tooth structure. if you get it done professionaly, the dentist will monitor your teeth to make sure that if it occurs you will be treated.
also you should not use whitening tooth pastes if you have sensitive teeth as it only exacerbates the situation. do not brush hard as it will cause gingiival recession and may cause a condition called abfraction.
also about the guy with tetracycline staining. there are new ways to bleech teeth affected by this. it is called power bleaching. i don't know how many dents would have the equipment to do this but it would probably be very few.

ToxicPaddy

Originally posted by patto_chan
I once wondered about tooth bleaching or cosmetic work such as caps. I recollect my dentist saying that some forms of enamel discolouration are the result of a reaction from childhood innoculations. Anyone else hear this?

Ive heard that some of the drugs/supplements given to pregnant women in the 70's
and early 80's had a sick effect of causing discolouration of the teeth of both woman
and child and also some of the innoculations and common antibotics did this too..

So no matter how much you get your teeth cleaned or bleached, there wont be too
much of a difference..

But im no doctor so I dont know how true any of this actually is..

Tox

dudara

I've got some white streaks next to the gum line on one or two of my teeth as well. they're visible only really up close, but dentists have noticed them and asked if I had been seriously ill as a child. I presume to see if you've had large doses of antibiotics

LegacyUser

some discoloration will be from a buildup of plaque that u will never remove with a brush, buy one of those metal pick thingies they sell now, seen em in boots, basically a mirror and metal pick like the dentists use to remove plaque, work wonders

Turner

Originally posted by not_sure
i just got mine done by the dentist, 400 Euro oh they are brillant white now, glad i spent the money well worth it!!

Any pics ?

Going Demented

Originally posted by not_sure
i just got mine done by the dentist, 400 Euro oh they are brillant white now, glad i spent the money well worth it!!

What did you get done to whiten them?

The_Conductor

Probably some sort of laser bleaching?
Pics would be interesting....

Pity we didn't start to flourinate our water at the same time as they did in the states- I am always bedazzled looking at person after person all with the most amazingly white teeth. Thats not to say a lot of them don't need orthodontics though!

positron

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy
..also some of the innoculations and common antibotics did this too.. So no matter how much you get your teeth cleaned or bleached, there wont be too
much of a difference..

But im no doctor so I dont know how true any of this actually is..

Tox

Yup, as posted earlier, I had to take generous amount of tetracycline to get a grip on severe Asthma when I like 3 to 7 and eversince I have discolourisation, it doesnt look too bad, but I've been to docs' and they all say its with-in, and wont go away with polishing or any such external treatments. The desperate measure are cap or veneering etc.