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Teeth whitening? Scam or legit?

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Ive tried a couple. The kit that has like 30 strips didnt do much. The kit that has only a few 1 hour strips worked really well. I assume the 1 hour strips must have alot more whitening agent.
 
chromatic9 said:
It's still dangerous and a poison
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...tooth-whitening-channing-tatum_n_7975412.html

I'm sure its rare but a mistake can be very bad. I'd rather a dentist do it.
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I've used whitening strips to no adverse effects, and even suggested by my dentist at the time. I believe the dosage amount is still safe for the strips, it shouldn't be left on your gums for long periods of time though. Any sensitivity is gone after a little while as well. It's been a while since I've done the research, but I'm very thorough about what I do with my mouth and whitening wasn't an issue. That said, if you whiten regularly, it could be problematic (sensitivity), but that can be alleviated by doing it once a year and brushing with a whitening toothpaste (most toothpastes also use a small dose of peroxide as well).
 
the "whitening" toothpastes have never worked for me. they just made me feel like there was a film in my mouth that wouldn't go away until i started eating stuff.

if you just care about whitening the visible teeth the white strips should do fine. the version i used wasn't able to cover all my teeth in the back. there are different levels of strength that can get you whiter faster but you might like how sensitivity the higher powered stuff make your teeth/gums feel. i don't think any of that sensitivity should be permanent though...just a matter of your tolerance threshold. i'd have to take days off as the sensitivity was annoying.
 
As my dentist would say, do you really need unnaturally white teeth? Or can you survive with healthy strong teeth but naturally yellow tinged dentin?

I chose the latter.
 
IceIpor said:
As my dentist would say, do you really need unnaturally white teeth? Or can you survive with healthy strong teeth but naturally yellow tinged dentin?

I chose the latter.
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i wouldn't say its unnaturally white. i mean you kind of have some level of control over how white you want to go.
 
It can cause you pain if you use them more than recommended but they don't hurt your enamel.

They work about as well as you'd expect for the price.

IceIpor said:
As my dentist would say, do you really need unnaturally white teeth? Or can you survive with healthy strong teeth but naturally yellow tinged dentin?

I chose the latter.
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What about healthy strong unnaturally white teeth? Your dentist sounds like a fraud.

Do you really need unnaturally clear skin? Or can you survive with a waxy ass nose that everyone thinks looks hella gross?
 
I'm probably just going crazy but I swear those Crest white strip things made my teeth look worse.

I drink far too much green tea and coffee though.
 
Get'sMad said:
I'm probably just going crazy but I swear those Crest white strip things made my teeth look worse.

I drink far too much green tea and coffee though.
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it depends on the type of staining too. when i used them i noticed that there were sometimes spots on my teeth that ended up a bit whiter than others. it could just be uneven contact of the strips though as for me they would make my mouth generate a lot of saliva and the strips would sometimes have a hard time staying on
 
RS4- said:
Doesn't work for everyone.
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Uhhh what? I mean the primary active ingredient that whitens the teeth is hydrogen peroxide... I guess if you have such white teeth already that hydrogen peroxide wouldn't bleach them whiter then I suppose in that specific case it would not work.
 
Jawbreaker said:
Haven't tried this before, but I'm curious: Why not?
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It's mechanism of action is to scratch the stained enamel off. It's not whitening anything, just physically removing the stained layer.

Dipper145 said:
Uhhh what? I mean the primary active ingredient that whitens the teeth is hydrogen peroxide... I guess if you have such white teeth already that hydrogen peroxide wouldn't bleach them whiter then I suppose in that specific case it would not work.
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Teeth can have intrinsic stain and extrinsic stain. You can whiten extrinsic stain, but intrinsic stain can't be bleached away. You usually have to opt for a veneer or crown in those cases.
 
They're legit and the strongest ones are strong as hell. Made the mistake of buying them, I couldn't even sleep with how much my teeth hurt after using them. They weren't cheap either($60+).
 
I use Arm & Hammer Advanced White toothpaste twice a day, and when finished brushing, spit all of the paste out, but don't rinse. Don't worry, you'll live if you swallow a little paste.

My teeth have turned a nice bright white over time, and haven't had the need for strips.

Ex smoker, daily coffee drinker.
 
SpacLock said:
I use Arm & Hammer Advanced White toothpaste twice a day, and when finished brushing, spit all of the paste out, but don't rinse. Don't worry, you'll live if you swallow a little paste.

My teeth have turned a nice bright white over time, and haven't had the need for strips.

Ex smoker, daily coffee drinker.
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I've always heard you shouldn't rinse after brushing, but where does mouthwash come into the equation?

I've always done it like this: Floss, brush, rinse, mouthwash, rinse

but is that not right? Should it be more like: Floss, rinse, mouthwash, rinse, brush, don't rinse?

We should make a Dental Health OT lol.
 
Turbowaffles said:
I've always heard you shouldn't rinse after brushing, but where does mouthwash come into the equation?

I've always done it like this: Floss, brush, rinse, mouthwash, rinse

but is that not right? Should it be more like: Floss, rinse, mouthwash, rinse, brush, don't rinse?

We should make a Dental Health OT lol.
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I'm not the most knowledgeable in that department, but I have also heard not to rinse after brushing sometime early in life, and I've stuck with it.

I have a pretty strict skin care routine too, so I'll usually perform that between my brushing and mouthwash which allows some good time between the two.
 
Turbowaffles said:
I've always heard you shouldn't rinse after brushing, but where does mouthwash come into the equation?

I've always done it like this: Floss, brush, rinse, mouthwash, rinse

but is that not right? Should it be more like: Floss, rinse, mouthwash, rinse, brush, don't rinse?

We should make a Dental Health OT lol.
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Don't use mouthwash imo

Not worth the $10 a month or whatever
 
I've decided to stop drinking coffee, tea and energy drinks [mainly for health] and I've been considering using a teeth whitening treatment.
Can anyone recommend a particular brand for the best & safest results?
 
If u do all 3, I think it's floss-mouthwash-brush. But don't mouthwash erryday

Crest whitening works the best. I've done 3 or 4 other brands too. I used the best kind in store and thought they didn't work. Went to the dentist to try and get my teeth whitened and he pulled out a chart, pointed and said "Crimson your teeth are right here. See these? You're at the best you can get naturally"

. I was kinda upset at the time tho, bc your boi was willing & able to go the next step.
 
Therin said:
I recently tried the crest white strips for the first time and .. I didn't realize how sensitive they can make your teeth. D: Idk if my teeth just suck, but after I used them for the first time, my bottom teeth were super sensitive for an hour. They turned back to normal but I don't really want to fuck with my teeth sensitivity, so I just stopped entirely.
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Yeah Crest White Strips are awful for this. I kept going, determined to get the pearly whites their whitest....holy shit the teeth sensitivity lasted the whole day, it drove me nuts.

Stick with dentist recommended solutions, usually it's stuff they do in-office, not with the help of a box bought from your pharmacy.
 
Therin said:
I recently tried the crest white strips for the first time and .. I didn't realize how sensitive they can make your teeth. D: Idk if my teeth just suck, but after I used them for the first time, my bottom teeth were super sensitive for an hour. They turned back to normal but I don't really want to fuck with my teeth sensitivity, so I just stopped entirely.
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I have the same problem. Extremely painful for me - I have gel that I can put into my invisalign aligners, but I'm scared to death.
 
Turbowaffles said:
I've always heard you shouldn't rinse after brushing, but where does mouthwash come into the equation?

I've always done it like this: Floss, brush, rinse, mouthwash, rinse

but is that not right? Should it be more like: Floss, rinse, mouthwash, rinse, brush, don't rinse?

We should make a Dental Health OT lol.
Click to expand...
mouthwash is last and wait at least 30 minutes before rinsing or drinking
 
Oh wow, I just remembered in Highschool a couple years ago I got some more professional teeth bleaching stuff from my Dentist. Took a rubber flexible mold of my teeth and prescribed the gel bleaching stuff. Would put the gel in the mold and wear it overnight. It worked, slightly, but at seemingly random times, I would get shocks of pain that HURRRRRT like a mother fucker in certain teeth. In the middle of class, chewing gum, it would just happen, so I did the bleaching once and now I just use whitening toothpaste, because FUCK that pain. Felt like getting my tooth cracked in half.
 
I found the expensive home kit from my dentist (where they cast a bespoke gum shield) to be very effective. In terms of corrosion, it's about as bad as drinking a class of coke, apparently.

I've also done the laser whitening before which, whilst reasonably effective, was agony in terms of sensitivity and I wouldn't do that against.

If you're serious about whitening as opposed to just maintaining what's already going on, I'd give the Crest strips a miss.
 
theaface said:
I found the expensive home kit from my dentist (where they cast a bespoke gum shield) to be very effective. In terms of corrosion, it's about as bad as drinking a class of coke, apparently.

I've also done the laser whitening before which, whilst reasonably effective, was agony in terms of sensitivity and I wouldn't do that against.

If you're serious about whitening as opposed to just maintaining what's already going on, I'd give the Crest strips a miss.
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This is faulty advice. I know several people whose Dentists have told them to just use Crest.
It's super effective
 
I've used generic store brand "Whitening Wrap" strips. Worked great, didn't notice any sort of increased sensitivity. The taste wasn't great, but it also wasn't some kind of terrible mouth crime either.

It's not an especially permanent procedure (which is probably mostly for the best). I drink a lot of tea -- which is why I wanted to whiten my teeth in the first place -- and obviously it does its thing again with time. So I wouldn't spend $90 or whatever on the process.
 
I had my teeth professionally whitened. Really nice. But sensitive after!

Make sure to use Tooth Mousse or similar things with calcium/phosphate. Helped a lot with the pain
 
AtomskEater said:
I think I have some of that. I'll give it a try.

I've also heard baking soda + hydrogen peroxide helps, but it can take a while to see results.
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The professional-grade and "unnatural" stuff is actually mostly hydrogen peroxide in gel form. It works based on the same principle as peroxide works when whitening other materials (aka: oxidizing the fuck up of everything), which means you need to be careful with the home kits to avoid burning your gums.

Your teeth will get very sensitive for a few days/weeks because it washes away the stuff that fills the tubules, exposing the nerves, and it takes a while for that to regenerate.
 
i did inquire about this last time i went to the dentist.

She said what they use it pretty much cleans your tooth to return it to its natural state (pre-stains). Think it was laser something? Cant remember.
 
It's kind of bizarre that people put hydrogen peroxide and other aggressive materials on their teeth for zero health/functional benefit (sometimes the opposite) but solely for appearance, caused by decades of dental advertisements and outdated associations with health.

SrwoBCq.jpg
 
my dental hygienist said basically: the pro kits can make your teeth any shade of white you want, and the store bought ones are a waste of money. the molds are the key thing. once you have molds you can just buy the whitening kit refills, but I got one of those last year and they last for ages, I still have like 8 cylinders of the stuff, because you only use tiny dabs.

Zaru said:
It's kind of bizarre that people put hydrogen peroxide and other aggressive materials on their teeth for zero health/functional benefit (sometimes the opposite) but solely for appearance, caused by decades of dental advertisements and outdated associations with health.
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*shrug* we shave and wax and do all kinds of goofy anti-evolutionary shit
 
Doesn't work for everyone and all types of tooth discoloration, but it seems to work for people who have tooth discoloration from behavior like drinking coffee, eating certain foods, or smoking.

Back 6 years ago or so I found myself single and wanting to clean up my look and did a 2 or 3 week regiment with the Colgate strips, and they worked. There was a visible difference in my teeth each week doing the program. From what I remember they weren't that bad either... 15-20 minutes each day, and I'd do the program while doing something mundane like folding laundry or putting the dishes away.

Zaru said:
It's kind of bizarre that people put hydrogen peroxide and other aggressive materials on their teeth for zero health/functional benefit (sometimes the opposite) but solely for appearance, caused by decades of dental advertisements and outdated associations with health.
Click to expand...

Some people find value in human relationships that they form partially through their appearance. Hence why people get haircuts, use whitening toothpaste, shave, dye their hair, pierce their ears, get tattoos, and any number of cosmetic changes to their body that have no "functional" benefits. Plus, who knows how the reward functions of another person's brain works, perhaps the reward that your brain gives you for doing something that you find "functional" to your body is the same reward someone else gets when they look in the mirror and see whiter teeth. It's about as bizarre as anything else which is to say, not very bizarre at all.
 
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