Question:
Have any of you had your teeth bleached either by a dentist or using
one of those at home "professional" kits you can pick up at a
pharmacy? My dentist wants 300 bux to send me home with a kit to
bleach my teeth that looks exactly like the pro-kit for $25 at the
pharmacy, with form fitted trays and everything. I'm so sick of
looking at my coffee-red wine-ciggarette stained teeth I can't stand
it anymore. Comments? Experiences? I bought the $25 kit tonight, form
fitted the trays and already one treatment I see a difference.
According to the instructions it should take about a week to give me
pearlies since I'm only about a 7 or 8 on the discoloration scale.
Answer:
I recently tried the crest whitening strips for fun. They worked for
me. While I don't recall the price of the kit (bought it along with the
standard weekly groceries) it was certainly less than the $300.00 your
dentist is asking.
Wellbutrin? I presume this is some sort of drug, but I'm not familiar
with it.
That's what the crest stuff says as well.
It all just depends on how badly stained your teeth are. The drugstore
kits will help, but may not give you the results you want if the
staining is severe. Also, you have to be careful about using either
treatment (professional bleaching or home bleaching) too much, as you
could damage the enamel. Give your kit a try and see how they look in
a week, just be careful not to overdo things. Let me know how it works
out for you!
The only difference I can really think of is that my dentist used a
spiffy special light source on my teeth the bleaching compound was
applied. I'm pretty sure it was just a UV light source, but I was
pretty high on nitrous so I can't be sure. I had an in-office
bleaching procedure done at the same time as some other dental work,
so the memories are fuzzy and a little bit pink around the edges.
My dentist does whitening (doesn't do bleaching anymore as they damage
enamel, a lot) which is about £100 for two sessions and there's no risk of
getting bleached gums.
I had it done a number of years ago and was pleased with the results. That
was the kind with fitted trays that you used overnight with whitening gel
for a number of days. I would not recommend you do that frequently (more
than every year or two); my teeth became very sensitive for a week or so.
For maintenance, I use a whitening toothpaste like Arm and Hammer with
baking soda and peroxide.
