Vain I know, but after too many years of smoking and coffee, looking like an option.
Anyone done it? Feedback?

Ta

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/16/john-matthew-hargreaves-jailed-dangers-diy-teeth-whitening-kits-wales

I think it looks daft – way too white and obvious. Have you tried a decent electric toothbrush and whitening toothpaste? I started using Colgate Total whitening, and even though i’ve never been a smoker and my teeth are pretty naturally white the Colgate whitening toothpaste did make noticeable difference, but didn’t give me that stupid super white look – I look silly enough as it is. Might take a few months to work but maybe you could get your dentist to give them a decent polish before to kick start the process.

I don’t want to look like I am from California

I drink a fair amount of real coffee, also have a bit of a thing about people with grotty brown teeth. So I use a gel and mouth tray about once a month, just to take the staining away. Dr George’s Dental White starter kit is all you need and what I’d recommend for making your teeth look clean again. NB it’s not the same as having your teeth professionally whitened tho, if that’s what you want, it’ll just make your teeth look er… less brown.

Went to my Dentist as have two root canaled front teeth which were very badly tea stained. Got trays made and then gradually worked up from an hour of bleaching to overnight for a week or two (was last year so cannot remember exact period).

Results were brilliant, it’s not a shiny white but much better than they were, my dentist had a stained scale and did before and after checks and it was many steps whiter. He advised I might need to do a once a year top up if they start getting badly stained again.

Out of interest, how much roughly does it cost to get them done at the dentist?

Getting teeth cleaned at Dentisit is a good idea, every 6/12 months – not expensive.. Whitening is a bit more of a prpject and need not be hollywood white. Personally I am well overdue a clean and was speaking about organising it just yesterday.

“whitening” toothpastes are simply a more abrasive toothpaste than standard toothpaste – they will remove extrinsic/surface stains such as tar(smoking)/tannin(tea/red wine) but they won’t change the actual shade of the tooth or remove intrinsic staining – you need to bleach them to do that.

unless the staining is extrinsic/superficial/surface I wouldn’t recommend a whitening tootp[aste as its too abrasive, won’t work & will scrub away precious enamel and won’t make them any whiter

bleaching with custom made,( i.e. properly fitting!) trays is a good option, price will vary according to the dentist. Don’t worry about “hollywood whiteness” you can stop bleaching them when you’re happy with the shade. Doing them slowly with a relatively weak bleaching solution (10% carbide peroxide) can help reduce the amount of transient sensitivity that will be caused.

I did the unthinkable and stopped drinking tea during the day.. my teeth were noticeably whiter in a few days.

Elzorillo. That’s just a no I’m afraid. Though I have quit the tabs.

I see a hygienist every 6-9 months and have my teeth cleaned and polished (although not whitened).

As a couple of people have mentioned, if it is age related discolouring, then whitening at dentist is the solution.The yellower core of the teeth show thru enamel as it thins / ages, and also worsening the effect of surface staining.

Local dentist it’s £360 – this covers a custom mould top and bottom and sufficient treatment gel for the initial whitening, and recommended left over gel is used for a one off top up every 6 months (so ~ 18 months)

After that, it’s £50 for further gel that covers 4 top ups so ~ 2yrs

So expensive initially, but I’d say fairly reasonable to keep it in that condition.

Very quickly

It works, the average is 9 shades brighter
“At home” kits from a dentist with custom made trays are the safest and best method
The in surgery “zoom” whitening with the fancy light works but not as well.
It will make your teeth sensitive and gums sore while you do it, once you finish the process they go back to normal.
You can control how white your teeth get by the number of times you do it.
Don’t buy something off the internet!

It won’t change the colour of existing crowns or white filings – these may become more obvious if the teeth around them get whiter and may need attention to complete the improvement – your dentist can advise you of this

Seeing a hygienist regularly (every 6 months) will help remove / prevent tea/coffee staining but only bleaching will alter the basic colour of the teeth.

£360 is probably around average I think – it depends where you live as different areas have different overheads which affects pricing

Andymb and ceepers the dentists on here then?

I always advise middle aged male cyclists to use smudgeproof lipstick and mascara anyway, otherwise you get the snotwipe on the back of your glove terribly discoloured.

I thought about tooth whitening but tried something else first:

Oral B 3D Lux white toothpaste – £4

http://www.superdrug.com/Oral-B/Oral-B-3D-White-Luxe-Healthy-Shine-Toothpaste-75ml/p/719471?gclid=CPmWoImzw88CFRfjGwodzX4KHw&gclsrc=aw.ds

A new Colgate sonic toothbrush which is claimed to whiten teeth in a week:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colgate-ProClinical-Rechargeable-Electric-Toothbrush/dp/B009S674ME/ref=sr_1_6_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1475661477&sr=1-6&keywords=colgate+pro-clinical

The price on the above toothbrush varies between £49 and £79.

I wasn’t expecting to see any major change but have actually been quite surprised. The difference in the colour of the teeth is noticeable mainly as the staining from coffee and tea has completely gone.

I didn’t actually mention to anyone that I was doing it but my mum noticed and commented on it last time I saw her.

I was going to have the dentist do mine but it was costly and decided to give the internet kit a try as it was only £25 and ive found its made a massive difference and id not want to go whiter, the trays seemed to mould ok and ive not had any issues though i do take care not to get the bleach on my gums. for £25 i cant complain

see i just knew thered be a singletrack thread on this….. 😀

was talking to a dentist the other night at a bbq whose missus had a hollywood smile, seemed to impress my wife so we got talking about it. he said he does 2 different treatments, normal one he’d do mates rates at £200 instead of £300, then he said he also does ‘enlighten’ treatment, more expensive and hed do that for £375 instead of £500.

im tempted to get her it for christmas, but thought id ask for opinions on here before going ahead.
firstly im not sure the hollywood smile is the way to go, everybody would just say “ooh, shes had her teeth done”. but the cheaper way is sposed to make your teeth more sensitive. its the one id probably plump for tho.

both methods he says are a couple of visits for moulds and fitting, then you take the gel home and i spose sit there night after night with them in your mouth.

any real world (ideally from a dentist) opinions of these methods and prices? im guessing internet jobbies should be avoided, unless there really is something available thats ‘the same as the dentist does but cheaper’ and proven. altho i see womp ^^^ has had success going that route.

thanks

From what I remember, the two methods your mate was talking about are essentially the same thing but “enlighten” is a brand whereas the cheaper method you will probably get the same chemical gel but in plain packaging. Kinda like buying ibuprofen from Tesco or nurofen which is just a brand of ibuprofen but chemically the same.

The difference is that enlighten will guarantee that your teeth will reach shade b1 (which is the lightest naturally occurring shade) if you follow their instructions. They also make sure the gel is kept refrigerated from manufacture to patient which supposedly makes it more effective and they say the way it’s formulated reduces sensitivity.

We used to offer it (it used to have a different brand name, can’t remember what) alongside the basic stuff but we stopped because we alsways got good enough results with the cheaper system I found it hard to sell the more expensive treatment to patients!

Hope that helps

I find the cheapest method is to never smile

thanks ceepers, and do those prices sound about right? or are the ‘mates rates’ pretty much what youd find from any other dentist anyway do you think?
im actually at our local dentist later so will have a word with them too.

cheers

Sad ex we charge 300 so 200 def mates rate

Yeah they sound about right! As far as I remember the enlighten stuff is fairly expensive even at cost.

Sad ex we charge 300 so 200 def mates rate

Yeah they sound about right! As far as I remember the enlighten stuff is fairly expensive even at cost.

yep, just back from check-up and sounded the dentist out. £300 there too, so £200 does indeed seem reasonable.

thanks a lot chaps.

From what I remember, the two methods your mate was talking about are essentially the same thing but “enlighten” is a brand whereas the cheaper method you will probably get the same chemical gel but in plain packaging. Kinda like buying ibuprofen from Tesco or nurofen which is just a brand of ibuprofen but chemically the same.

And Philips Zoom is pretty much the same thing again?

Yep.

Basically there’s two methods of tooth whitening, either a super strong gel placed on the teeth (usually 35% carbamate peroxide) in the dentist for 45 mins and activated by a posh light. Phillips zoom quick white is this method. It whitens quickly but has more sensitivity and often needs topping up with the at home method anyway.

The at home method uses bleach gel placed in custom made gumshields. How long for and how often varies by product but the gels are usually either 10 or 16% carbamide peroxide or 9% hydrogen peroxide. Usually worn overnight or for 3 hours during the day (after 3 hours the bleaching action is usually over) The more days you do it for, the whiter your teeth get. The whiter your teeth get the harder it is to get them whiter still. The more nights in a row you do it, the more sensitivity you get but this subsides if you stop for a few days.

16% carbamide peroxide works very well regardless of which brand name you buy!

I use a gel in a gumshield, 20mins top and bottom once a month, just to take any bad staining away, don’t want a Hollywood smile, just don’t want really bad brown teeth.

Just use an old train ticket. Job done at minimum cost

If you happen to be passing through Canada at any time in the near future, you can get Crest whitening strips from Shoppers Drugmart (other drug stores are available)
Mrs_D swears by them. About $60 for a pack of 30