Getting Teeth Whitened

POLLY2006

ANYONE HAD THERE TEETH WHITENED BY THE DENTIST AND IS IT ANY GOOD?
MINE ARE PRETTY BAD AND I HATE THEM BUT WANT TO GET THEM DONE, IF ANYONE HAS HAD THERE'S DONE WHERE, COST AND DID IT WORK. THANKS [/COLOR]

clarkwgriswold

I got it done in a place in the city centre that say they specialise in it. It cost six hundred notes and failed to meet my expectations. It seemed to whiten them a little for a few weeks, then they returned to normal.
I spoke to a friend of a friend who is a dentist and he told me that's normal. He said that the results are usually minimal and short lived and that he avoided recommending it to his own patients.
Hope that helps....

Nephertiti

My dentist said she'd do mine for 420.00... I havent gotten round to it yet but I do intend getting them whitened.. I have more pressing financial matters to attend to first but its on my to do list....

Kinetic^

Anymore feedback on this??

clickclick

I did an experiment about teeth whiteners for a project. I used the profesional dentist one, a home kit and just plain old baking soda for 5 days on different teeth and you know what? the baking soda came out on tops. Its the cheapest and the safest as it is au naturelle. I'd try that before forking over €400 - €1,000 to the dentist. Either that or hop the boarder.

Kinetic^

I got a bit of info on this myself.

There are two different types of whitening one is called tray whitening it takes about 10 days and it costs 500.

The second type is zoom laser whitening and it takes 2 1/2 hours in the surgery and it costs 650.

So anyone any feedback on either of them?

Rachelann

I work in a dentists, just came across this forum by chance. Yes there are two types, bleaching, using a gum shield for ten days and laser treatment (smiles, off grafton st).

Bleaching should not be that expensive. My dentist I work for charges €240. Smiles as far as i know is in and around €600. Although I cannot comment on laser whitening. Bleaching has different effects on different people.

It all depends on whether you are a smoker, your age, whether you drink coffee/tea. The success rate in my practise is relatively high. It is not as effective on smokers as nicotine is harder to shift.

Everyone's teeth are different shades and the only way to find out is to try it.

Kinetic^

Right well I don't smoke. I don't drink coffee at all, never have. I say I'd drink about 1 cup of tea every month, at most.

Do the effects last or do you have to get a top up every once in a while??

Paddy20

Now, lets be honest here, your teeth will become discolured and unattractive with age, it's only natural.

Far to many charlatans are making fortunes from ' so called ' teeth whitenining treatments, it's a scam !.

Unless you are a celebrity with a lot of money and an even bigger ego, why bother, if you can eat with your molars, what more do you need ?... unfortunately all of the human skeleton and body deterioates as we get older.

So, if you are not happy with your teeth, then get denture's

P. :cool:

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Paddy20 you make some valid points...whitening is a cosmetic treatment however it does work quite well (no matter how you have it done) and is proven to be safe. It will replaspe usually within 18 months when you would require a boost bleaching. Its up to you. Best to get you teeth throughly checked out first and cleaned really well before embarking on any bleeching. The kits you get in the likes of boots work to some degree but the professional kits the dentist uses are much higher concentration of bleeching agent and work better and quicker.

Rachelann

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

Right well I don't smoke. I don't drink coffee at all, never have. I say I'd drink about 1 cup of tea every month, at most.

Do the effects last or do you have to get a top up every once in a while??

Whitening does sensitise the teeth during the bleaching process, so it is not recommended that it is done too often. I dont know what defines too often but most people would get it done only a couple of times in their lifetime. As yoou dont smoke or drink, the bleaching should work.

NB: with regard to sensitivity during bleaching, smearing sensodyne toothpaste on the teeth acts as a treatment for this.

clarkwgriswold

I was told that the reason it was largely ineffective was precisely because I wasn't a big consumer of tea/coffee and don't smoke.
The explanation was that if the discolouration was never there to begin with, it would be impossible to "bleach off". In getting them to go whiter than their whitest natural shade, it is unstable and doesnt last long.
I was told that the best candidate is really the person who has recently given up cigs or coffee.
The whole thing sounds like a con - possibly there are some limited improvements than can be made - even dentists don't seem to agree with one another on this.

Rachelann

Then why get your teeth bleached at all if they're not stained?

ToxicPaddy

Is it true that some drugs given to women during pregnancy in the 70's had a side effect on the children that it caused the teeth to be slightly discoloured.

So no matter what you do your teeth would stay the same colour?

Dunno if this is true or not but read an article on it somewhere once.

Tox

Wight

ToxicPaddy wrote:

Is it true that some drugs given to women during pregnancy in the 70's had a side effect on the children that it caused the teeth to be slightly discoloured.

So no matter what you do your teeth would stay the same colour?

Dunno if this is true or not but read an article on it somewhere once.

Tox

This is absolutely true. The drug you're thinking of is an antibiotic called Tetracycline. Initially no-body realised it affected the Foetus. It produces very characteristic discolouration, and it can be a lot more than "slightly" discoloured too. Here's a link to see what I'm talking about:

A mild case:
http://www.dermatlas.com/derm/result.cfm?Diagnosis=-574194942

A more severe case: (image 16)
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic646.htm#target18

To affect the adult teeth it usually has to have been taken in childhood. If it's taken by a pregnant mother it affects the primary (baby or milk) teeth more than anything else.

derek27

I whitened my own teeth at home practically for free. I brushed my teeth initially with a standard fluoride toothpaste to remove plaque etc, then flossed as usual. then using a soft bristle toothbrush which had been dipped in 2% hydrogen peroxide solution (available OTC from any pharmacy) brushed again for about 1 minute. Also flossed again with denal floss which had the 2% soln applied to it. following this, rinsed my mouth with water then a regular mouthwash. done this once a day for a week after which every stain on my teeth ws gone (and i smoke nd drink coffee). now i just brush and floss witrh 2% hydrogen peroxide once a week or less to maintain the whiteness.

The peroxide doesn't taste great to confine it as much as you can to your teeth. Also if you have gums that bleed during normal brushing, the peroxide can get into those tiny cuts and cause some transient mild discomfort. the enzyme catalase present in the red blood cells rapidly converts the hydrogen peroxide to water with the liberation of oxygen gas according to the chemical reaction...

2H2O2

---

Catalase

---

> 2H2O + O2(g^)

if this is occurring in your gums you will be able to notice it as the affected area turns white for a short time after brushing due to accumulation of oxygen gas. 1% H2O2 can be used as an antiseptic mouthwash and is quite common.

lomb

the general dental consensus in the states is that the new zoom 2 that causes less sensitivity is useless. zoom 1 or the original zoom caused alot of sensitivity but was very effective. there is a new professional way to bleach teeth using pressure, light and heat which is very effective but there is no one probably in ireland that uses the system.
id stick with home bleaching for the moment;)

xzanti

Theres a thread re tooth whitening in F/A and people are raving about Crest Whitestips.. You can only get them over the net and they're about $32.50.. Sound good to me.. I'v ordered mine

Wight

THe strips work but they've got one big down side. THe strip noly contacts the prominent part of the tooth it doesn't "flow" back into the curved area towards the edge of the tooth where it meets the neighbour. Thus you get a "Vertical stripes" effect of light "middle" teeth with dark bands on the "edges". This doesn't bother some people, others don't like it. Each to their own.