Went into to Watsons today, with the intention of buying some toothpaste to whiten my ivories, only to be confronted by an array of toothpastes, some local, some imported. What I saw:
The crest strips are EXCELLENT!!! Use them if you can, but I haven’t seen them here, but they have them in hong kong. What I have seen is the Colgate knock off of the paint on whitening paste. I don’t know if that is effective but if you want to play around I would say try it. I use the Blackie stuff and it ‘seems’ to work ok…BUt from what I have read, the whitening forumlas in the toothpastes are too low to really have an effect on your teeth. It’s the dentist procedure and the upkeep that works…best of luck
I just want to share my experience with the Crest White Strips. I have sensitive teeth to start with and have been using Sensodyne since the 90s. I tried the Crest White Strips two years ago and after the third day, my teeth were killing me. They were really really really sore and I had to clench them to alleviate the pain. I drove to London Drugs in tears and ran up to the pharmacist who gave me a bottle of Fluorinse (otc fluoride rinse) and the pain went away. I called the 1-800 number on my package of Crest White Strips and they were really nice, gave me a full refund. I told them they should have a warning for people with sensitive teeth, but I don’t know if they have that warning now. My teeth killed. Big time. The pain was excruciating.
However, I have sensitive teeth so I couldn’t use it long enough to see results. My friend swears by it though. He loves the Crest White Strips.
Then I bought the Colgate (I think it was) paint on whitener a few months later. It’s like a bottle of nail polish. They don’t work for the reason that once you apply it to your teeth, you’re not supposed to get your teeth wet, but how exactly do you do that? You gotta close your mouth, don’t you?
Speaking of white teeth, I’ve noticed that plenty of people (and I’m talking 20ish yr olds) have got really yucky brown rotten teeth - even babes. Aren’t people into brushing teeth here? Surely it’s not the mighty Betel?
One of the reasons is because of the lack of floride in the water among other things. There is floride added to the water back in Canda, and I assume it is in most other develoved countries as well. Even floride treatments aren’t common at the dentists here, you can get them if you request them, but I know it’s an automatic thing in Canada.
I just saw a very good dentist in the US yesterday. We were talking about how FSA debit cards can be used for dental expenses (flexible spending accounts, a way to use pre-tax wages to pay for certain medical expenses; it’s a common payroll benefit in the USA).
According to my dentist, the best least-invasive way to whiten teeth is by using a pair of custom-made mouthpieces, one for the upper plate and one for the lower, which are then filled with a prescription-only whitening gel. You cover both lower and upper sets of teeth with each’s respective mouthpiece, which has been filled beforehand with the prescription gel. You have to leave this crap in your mouth for two hours daily over fourteen consecutive days.
Second best, according to my dentist, are Crest Whitening Strips. She mentioned that the Crest product does create a lot of pain for some people who have sensitive gums. She said that, in her experience, others weren’t bothered at all. Anyone who could finish the Crest program enjoyed noticeable success, according to her.
If you can’t use either, then her recommendation was to rely on whitening toothpaste, and she thought the best of that lot is a gel called Colgate Total Whitening. I believe this toothpaste is available in Taiwan; it was when I lived there.
The prescription method works best because the mouthpieces are made from casts of your own teeth, which in turn allow more of the prescription goo to contact more of each tooth’s surface area at all times. The Crest strips are only applied from canine to canine, for lower and uppers: no teeth dorsal to the canines are affected, according to her.
whitening toothpaste arent good for your teeth (can be too abraisive and as a result damage your enamel).
over the counter whitening strips such as the Crest ones can work for some people, but more than often, the peroxide concentration is much too low for one to achieve optimal results
I had custom-fit trays made by at my dentist… I used the Pola Night kit (22% carbamide peroxide)… wore the trays 2 hours a day for 2 weeks to begin with… and nowadays i just do it every once in a while to maintain them
my teeth-
ps- i agree with truant’s comment about Taiwanese people having disgusting teeth. You see some teenage girls… all done up with their eyelash extensions, thermally reconditioned hair and what not… and when they open their mouth to smile… what you see are two rows of corn. Even celebrities have pretty awful teeth. I’d say the reason is becayse majority of kids arent taught proper dental hygiene skills when they are young…
I"m pretty skeptical with all this “whitening” stuff. How can something just bleach your teeth instantly? Would you become addicted to it and white teeth? What if you stop using it after 3 months? Do your teeth default back to yellow?
And what about people with fake teeth? And people with sensitive gums?
I guess I just take these whitening things as a trend. I mean, look at all those skin whitening things. God.
Once you stop using it, your teeth may start to stain again (for some people that smoke or drink tea/coffee, it may happen a lot faster)
No it won’t work on false teeth (veneers, crowns, bridges, etc) so some people who do have veneers/crowns or whatever may have them replaced after the whitening so that the shade matches
As far as sensitivity goes, it depends. If you get the custom fit trays, it will mould securely around your teeth and there shouldnt be any bleaching solution coming in contact with your gums. Some people may experience some sensitivity, but it goes away
crest whitening strips work great, but can make teeth senstive like a previos poster pointed out.
A friend got her teeth whitened here by some high powered salt scrub. anyone heard of this? she’s left for the states so i can’t get the info from her. cost about 2,000NT or something and safer than bleach.
It’s been a while since I’ve read about teeth whitening.
I know when I was back in the US, I read about it more and found the brand that was the least abbrasive of all. I forgot what that was.
I’d really recommend reading about it. Silicia (maybe one type, maybe all) is really abrasive. There are alternatives.
For people with sensitive teeth, I would highly recommend some type of stannous flouride like Colgate Gel-Cam. You brush it on your teeth after normal brushing and leave it on. Better dentists will recommend this for sensitive teeth. There really isn’t much you can do with exposed denton once your gums wear away. You can only cover it up. Either permanently, or temporarily with stannous flouride.
You guys also may be overbrushing. Learning proper brushing technique is also important.
Plus I’ve never really read up about why some people have better teeth than others. One dentist has told me tooth decay usually slows once people reach their 30s. I never tried to understand why.
Figuring out what is good saliva and always having a moist mouth helps too; it cleans your teeth.
