I've done the bleaching treatment that the dentist supplied. He took dental impressions and made the trays for me. I bought the bleaching cream from him and used it daily for a week. I could see a big difference..not as white as with the laser treatment, but I was told this was safer to use.

I have been considering the Kor treatment but have not committed yet due to the cost. If I may piggy back on your post, has anyone had any experience with Kor? Another pause for me has been the reports of pain/sensitivity associated with the whitening treatments.

DS2 had spots on his teeth when he was about 10. I'm pretty sure it was because of some medicine I took when breastfeeding. The dentist whitened the teeth and they looked great!

It was one session and I can't remember the cost but it wasn't expensive.

However, times have changed since then so no telling what they use now or the cost.

My daughter had it done, well she had veneers put on. She's only 35 and they did a great job at matching the white so it looked very natural and not odd when she smiles. It cost about 5 grand and it was done in two sittings.

I think the most important thing is to find someone who can choose a color of white that isn't going to make someone's teeth so white that it looks out of place and obvious something was done. My daughter is 36 and the color they used is very natural looking. It worked wonders for her self esteem; she has a really fabulous smile and now we get to see it so much more often. :c)

I asked my hygienist and she said she and the dentist both use the crest white strips and that they work pretty well...there is an issue with sensitivity from whitening treatments.

I had the in office whitening done once. I think it was called Zoom. I don't think of myself as wimpy or as one with sensitive teeth. I would not wish that pain on my worst enemy. It was fine in the office and even when I went home. But that night. I thought my teeth were going to fall out. I wished my teeth would fall out. I was pretty close to calling the emergency dentist line. I didn't, but probably should have. I don't ever remember being in so much pain.

My husband and I have had good results with the Crest White Strips.

Wow! So many have done different methods"
I m still not sure which one to try.
Maybe I will look into the white strips.

.

This got me thinking. I don't even hear about a teeth whitening procedure done by my dentist anymore. I'm sure there probably is but they do recommend the Crest White strips and there is one that is available only through your dentist - I'm assuming better than what you can buy elsewhere.

tina

Our daughter had the britesmile procedure done about 10 years ago at a cost of less than $500. It took about an hour or so. It did whiten her teeth; however she said her teeth really hurt afterwards like boopabadoo. I remember she had it done on Halloween Day and she couldn't eat candy that night. They also discourage drinking coffee and colas after the procedure because it will undo the whitening effect.

I've bought the Crest Whitestrips. They work. The stronger the strip (ie 3D professional effects) the more it hurts my teeth so I won't use the 3D again.

I also have a tray made by the dentist. I use the Opalescent gel to whiten my teeth. They need a touch up right now. I buy the gel on Amazon, which is a whole lot less expensive than buying it from the dentist. I tried the strongest strentght gel and it hurt after 20 minutes. I'd rather go with something less strong that I can keep on for awhile and not have my gums hurt. One time I bleached that pointy bit of gum between my two front teeth so bad it turned white! The color came back in half an hour or so, but it sure scared me in the meantime.

I don't have a tray for my bottom teeth, so maybe I will try the White Strips on the bottom.

My friend had the Zoom whitening and ended up with burns all over the inside of her mouth. It was horrible.

Don't buy too much Opalescence at once because it expires.

Here is a link that might be useful: opalescence

I had the hydrogen peroxide procedure done at my doctor. It cost $500. It worked alright. I do drink tea, coffee, and red wine and after 2 years my teeth are still pretty white. I should probably do a booster treatment or at least use the crest white strips. The dentist's office says that once you do it you're good for several years. My teeth are definitely whiter than my husband's and I haven't been too diligent about maintenance. It is expensive but I'll never do anything like plastic surgery and I just got to the point where it seemed like a totally noninvasive thing that would make a big difference in my appearance. I think I look better with my white teeth and they're not blinding white.

In my area all the discounters like groupon and livingsocial are starting to put up coupons for teeth bleaching at places like hair salons and tanning salons. I personally would never have something like this done anywhere but a dentists office. It is just my opinion, but as tempting as it is to get these kinds of procedures done cheaply many people in those places are not as well trained and may not know what to do in a problem situation. I wonder if those who report bad outcomes had their teeth bleached at the dentist's office or somewhere else?

DH (dentist) recommends Crest White Strips (he is a gov't contractor so no incentive to push office procedures). I just recently heard him tell DD not to use them more than every year or two as too much bleaching can damage the enamel and cause sensitivity. She told him about someone she knew who fell asleep with them on for several hours causing serious damage, so do follow directions carefully.

I use Crest White Strips - works great.

Crest 5 minute white strips here. I was told by a friend that the pro whitening really hurt her and her teeth were sensitive for weeks.

My zoom treatment was at the dentist.

boopadaboo, Did you ever find out what caused such bad pain? When I had mine done with the hydrogen peroxide there wasn't any pain at all. That sounds terrible. I hope that once it was over you didn't have anymore problems.

I have used the whitening strips but switched to Listerine Whitening rinse about a year ago. A couple of teaspoons, swish in your mouth for a minute and done. You can use it twice a day, but I found that made my teeth hurt slightly so now just do it once a day.

My dentist's office offers whitening procedures, but when I ask about it, said my teeth have hairline cracks,( not visible to the naked eye), and advised to just use the Crest strips. It has the same chemical basically, but at a lower strength. But before doing so, use the Sensodyne toothpaste for a week or so before applying the strips to ease any sensitivity
afterwards.

No, I never found out what the cause was. Next time I went to the dentist I mentioned it and they said it happens some times, I should have called them for pain killers.

Just seems strange to me. I just cant' think that something that causes pain like that can be OK or good for you. I decided I will settle for not so white teeth. :)

My dentist (also a very good friend of ours) does the whitening, I think, but, when I asked him about it, he said not to do it. Not sure why. I have had the trays for probably 20 years, and I just get the Opulence also from him. However, I have noticed the enamel on my teeth isn't as good as it used to be. It is not noticeable to me visually, just when I run my tongue across my teeth, it doesn't feel as smooth, which I am sure it is from the years of teeth whitening. I usually use it about 4 times a month, for 30 mins each. I naturally have white teeth anyway, but feel I need a little because of coffee, and I'm a little obsessive over white teeth.

I had the trays made several years ago from impressions. I couldn't stand using them due to sensitivity.

I had the Zoom whitening done in my dentists office before my daughters wedding. His wife is trained to do it. The before and after pics were amazing. My teeth looked great and it cost $150. That was 2 yrs ago. I think I may do it again this summer.

I had the trays done a few years ago and had to wear them for about two weeks. Initially my teeth were a little sensitive, but nothing awful, and I have a very low threshold for pain. The bleach worked really well and ip was told I could just use them overnight every once in a while for a touch up, or if. Had some sort of special occasion, but I always forget to use them! I keep telling myself I'm going to do it but then forget. I suppose if your teeth aren't too yellow or if you are really concerned about the sensitivity, then the crest strips might be just as good.

I had the Zoom whitening last fall shortly after having my braces off. When I inquired about it, I was told by my dentist that the sensitivity / pain is quite common. She actually had me come in a week before the treatment to have trays made, and then I used a de-sensitizing gel for 20 minutes per day for 7 days before the procedure.

They told me the light they use to activate the whitening solution causes the pores in your teeth to enlarge. That increases the sensitivity because more sensation (hot, cold, etc.) is getting in through the pores to the root. That is also why you're advised not to drink coffee, red wine, etc. for 48 hours after the treatment - - your teeth are especially porous after the treatment and will absorb more stain. It is only temporary and within 2 days your teeth will be back to their normal state.

I did experience some sensitivity after the treatment - sort of a quick jolt of pain. Almost like a shock. But it wasn't that often, they didn't last long, and only one or two teeth were affected. I had no symptoms at all by the next morning. I was very pleased with the results, and would do it again. I paid $300. My husband had it done also, about 1 1/2 yrs ago with the same dentist and his experience was similar. If anything, he probably had even less symptoms than I did.

I did trays from the dentist years ago. It worked really well and at the time, probally more than 10 years ago, it cost about $300. The only thing I did not realize or was not told was that if you have any caps or bonded veneers they will not bleach out so my two capped teeth were yellower than my teeth at the end of the process and the cost to recap those two teeth was steep. If your DH has any veneers be sure to ask how much to reveneer will be or it can become very expensive.

I was at the dentist this morning and he told me to simply buy Crest White strips if you need just a little bit of lightening.

He said people give up on the strips too soon and we need to do the upper teeth first instead of both upper and lower at the same time. Which is what I used to do and I always complained that I couldn't tell the difference.

If you do the uppers only, then you'll see the difference, and not to worry about the bottom teeth not being the same color (before you whiten them) because our smile's rarely show our bottom teeth. He said that's one of the major reason's why people stop using the strips because they can't really tell the difference by doing uppers and lower's at the same time so they give up too soon. Like I did!

I had the Zoom at the dentist office also. My teeth had realty yellowed too. I wasn't given any pretreatment to prevent sensitivity. At the time of the treatment, the assistant who did it said I might feel a "zinger" or two. I was fine through the treatment and my teeth, while not really white, were no longer yellow. So I was happy.

That night, after dinner, I was sitting in the family room with my mouth closed and I swear a bolt of lightning came through the ceiling and hit me in the teeth. I went to my knees holding my mouth with both hands and tears in my eyes.

I had several more that night. The next few days I had more but not as intense. It's the kind of pain that you actually would wish on your worst enemy.

I was just at the dentist yesterday and asked about whitening my teeth before they order a new crown to be put in.
You can't whiten a crown so I thought I would start out with nice shiny teeth..
Well they hooked me up with this system attached
and as I left I asked how much.
"That will be $300.00..."
OOOPS... should have asked first but at the same time it should have been mentioned. Oh well.
So, in true fashion to what I usually do before a purchase an item I googled it...

$119.00
What a mark-up heh?
I won't know if it's working for a while but I'll report back later.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.smilox.com/3m-white-brite-system.cfm

One thing --- don't overdo it! It's kind of like the tanning problem, a lot of people can't seem to stop. TOO white can look odd...

Oh yes ....I've seen those people.
Wasn't it a Seinfeld episode ?

I don't think it is something people really notice, unless you are at either end of the spectrum with too-white-perfect-veneered-teeth or too-yellow-never-visit a dentist-teeth. I hosted a group of women this morning and I couldn't tell you anything about their teeth. Obviously most of them were in the average/normal range and not at either extreme that would have called attention to their mouth and teeth.

I notice people's teeth. I know several people who have teeth that I think would look better whitened. I think it just doesn't occur to some people how much better their smiles whould be with less yellow teeth. I also notice when people's teeth are too white.

I got trays from the dentist years ago, I think mine where too yellow. They aren't faky white, but I think the color is nice. I do a touch up a couple of times a year.

Baking soda/peroxide~make a paste. Do a treatment every night for the first month. After that, once a week since it *is* hard on the enamel. Advice was given to me by my dentist who did bone graft surgical procedure/dental implants on me several years ago. Not only does it whiten the teeth, but helps with the ph balance of bacteria, good/bad.

Also get a hydrofloss! Mine was given to me by him(probably since I was spending buku bucks!) You'll only need to do 'on the spot' flossing if you get something in your teeth while eating!! You can use it every night, sometimes i'll add a little mouthwash. It's a fairly intense spray if you have it turned up all the way. Any loose crowns WILL come out, so do be aware and maybe have the drain closed. A couple of my kids tried mine and loved it so much I gave them as gifts for Christmas.

Here is a link that might be useful: hydrofloss

With so many factors affecting the appearance of our teeth, it's important to keep them looking their best. If you're not happy with your smile because stains or yellowing from wine/coffee drinking habits have taken over then visit us today!