Teeth Whitening

[minnie mouse 2006]

I've been wanting to get this done. Has anyone used any over the counter products that actually produced good results?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have been trying out lots of different ones.

I want my teeth to be WHITE, like Tic Tacs. Unfortunately, the natural color of my teeth is nowhere near Tic Tac white, so chances are even with professional whitening it wouldn't be that dramatic.

What I have found is that the generic Target brand gel works well. The trays it comes in are TERRIBLE! So I had a custom tray made, and I use a syringe (like you use to measure liquid meds) to suck the gel out of the crappy trays and squirt it into my custom tray.

I also have super sensitive teeth, so I can't tolerate the whitening gel every day. I have been using it about every other day.

I have been using it lately just to see what it does. I will buy another box of the trays before we go to WDW and use them the week prior.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Several years ago, I got custom trays made by my dentist and bought syringes of gel. After using those at night for about 2 weeks, my teeth looked really good. Last year, I wanted to do a touch-up and couldn't find my trays so I got Crest Whitestrips. I used them twice a day for almost 2 weeks and got good results. I will keep using those whenever I think my teeth are getting dingy.

I know 3 people (including my mom) who did the Zoom procedure at the dentist's office. That's when they pack the gums with cotton, paint on gel and then shine a light on them for an hour or so. With each person, I didn't see much change at all! I think you have to do it multiple times to get good results but that can get expensive. I think I've had better luck with Crest Whitestrips.

 

[a1tinkfans]

My Sis did the teeth whitening at the dentist, 45 minutes, and her teeth are BEAUTIFUL white...I mean beautiful, not "fake" but clean bright white.....so jealous.
I have the $$ but have really sensitive teeth and so many other more important medical issues that I just use the rinse every day...my teeth are not as white as they were as a child, as they have been somewhat stained by some meds and the over the counter seems to keep them quite nice........
Good Luck deciding...........

 

[maleficentmom]

I saw a girl on a youtube.com video that shows you how to do it with sports mouth guards and Simply White? or some kind of gel from the store for about 10 bucks total. She tells how to boil the guards and make the trays. I can't rememember her account name, but she does hair and beauty videos and says she worked for a dentist one time and learned this(who knows, I have not tried it as I just had a filling and i have a super sensitive tooth.it might be worth a try.) i have used crest strips..it's ok but the key,IMHO is to be very faithful with their use, and I just haven't been. I do know that the paste they make for coffee/smoking stains works well(Mentadent).

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I have used the trays & gels from the dentist and they work great.

 

[englishteacha]

I currently am using PlusWhite 5 minute speed whitening gel. You can buy just the gel or the kit with the trays. The trays got bad reviews so I just use the gel. You smear the gel on your teeth with a Q-tip (or your finger), leave it on for 5-20 minutes, and rinse. You're supposed to use it twice a day for 2 weeks. It seems to be making a difference, but I'm not as diligent about it as I should be. I got the version for sensitive teeth. It was under $5 at the grocery store. It got good reviews on Amazon and Drugstore.com. I used the whitestrips a while ago but they didn't make a huge difference. I have very crooked teeth and the strips just wouldn't stay put. This gel sticks to my teeth and definitely has brightened my smile.

 

[ceecee]

The trays we make in our office are custom fitted to a model of your teeth and fit much better than the ones you make yourself. We use an inexpensive (more than Whitestrips cheaper than Zoom) system and it works great. Touch ups can be done much easier with the over the counter once you have gotten a few shades whiter.

 

[wheelcap]

There's an article in last month's Men's Health magazine about whitening, and it basically says that there's no advantage to any of them - cheap or expensive; trays or strips; pro or store-bought -- they all produce similar results. Their surveys and tests shows that the original Crest White Strips do the best job for the least money. Having used them myself, as well as others, I'd agree that you can just stick with Crest White strips.