the bleaching systems- ALL of them- are short-term fixes unless you folow them up with having those whiter teeth bonded- which is pricey, but would be worth it if it really mattered that much... but then, if it really mattered, none of us would ever touch another cup of coffee ; ) from what I have seen, the over-the-counter strips work just as well as the slime-in-a-mouthpiece methods, at a tenth the price... and I'm noticing that my friend (who used to be a dental hygenist, and is now an aesthetician with a string of certificates) won't go near them, sell them, or recommend them to any of her clients... that tells ME all I need to know.

Thanks so much TREKaren and Carina for your replies. I actually found a site yesterday that has to do with rating the various whitening programs and the host of the site asked for any comments so I sent them my letter. Got a very nice reply back that said he'd been doing this for over 2 years and had never had a response like this. After doing further searches for any physical complaints I came up empty handed so guess this was a freak rare situation. She's getting better, but boy what a shock that must have been. Anyway, thanks for your help, and again if anyone else out there has had the same thing happen to them I'd love to hear about it. BarbB

The first time I had the dentist make the trays and bought Opalescence from him also. I think it was about 200.00 maybe for the trays and whitener... then I found the Opalescence on Amazon for a fraction of the price the dentist sells it for. Once you whiten them you just use it occasionally to keep them white. It helps with the sensitivity if you don't leave them in for a long time and it's not really necessary, 30-45 minutes Is plenty of time. Opalescence comes in a couple different strengths so if you tend to have sensitive teeth buy the milder strength. Be sure to store the unused whitener in the refrigerator. Perhaps you could get a dentist to just make the trays and not buy the whitener from him, just order it off the internet. also remember, it just takes a drop of the whitener, don't just load the tray up, it would be a waste and could cause gum irritation. I squirt out a small amount on the bottom front part of each tooth in the tray, when you put the tray in the whitener will spread onto the surface of your teeth.

Snidely, give it up, will you? It's a pathology with you.....always needing to be right. Even when you aren't. Just leave it! To answer questions: the strips do not whiten crowns, fillings, or other dental work. The bleaching agent is a type of peroxide. I've heard that some people are very sensitive to these treatments.....I wonder why? My gums became a bit tender, but I swished coconut oil in my mouth before bedtime and never a problem after that. Yaya, I think that you're doing it too frequently. The treatments keep working even after you're finished....I probably won't do mine again for another year. But, I'll have to see; with my usual dental hygiene routine is pretty thorough. About why the kits are behind the counter....I asked why when I bought mine. The reason is THEFT! I had a heartbreaking talk with the manager when he brought out all of the options for me to choose from. He said that they cannot keep anything of value out on shelves or it will be stolen rapidly. Items like makeup are so expensive because of theft.