As I enter my 40's, I am aware of teeth discoloration. I have been seeing a dentist every 3 months for preventative cleaning. At my last visit, I pointed out an area that had some staining. Thankfully my dentist was able to remove the staining without much fuss.
I am a non-smoker and non coffee drinker. I drink about 2 cups of tea/day
What about OTC teeth whitening products? Are they worthwhile?
Thanks
I think if you is baking soda & peroxide, it will work on any light stains. Works for me!
My hygienist also rec's rinsing with 50/50 water & peroxide prior to brushing and she swears by it.
Every 3 months for preventative cleaning, really? I go every 6 months. You must have really good insurance!
Yes, OTC teeth whitening products do work. However, will ALL teeth whitening products, there is always the chance of developing tooth sensitivity. I do not like the strips that you apply to your teeth because there is little room to adjust the strip to avoid the gum line where the sensitivity develops. I much prefer the kind with trays, or there is one kind in a pen. With the trays, you can apply the gel directly to your teeth with a Q-tip, avoiding the gum line altogether, apply the tray and let the product do its job. I can only manage about 5 minutes of the tray/gel method. Most products suggest 15-20 minutes. Tooth sensitivity doesn't take long to occur if you plan on using the product for that long. Once you get your teeth whitened to the desired whiteness, it's easy to maintain but initially you will have to invest about one month of daily whitening. Yes, they are worthwhile and cheaper than what the dentist can offer. My husband bought the kit from the dentist and it cost him several hundreds of dollars but I buy the kind at the grocery store and we get the same results...but my kit is way cheaper.
Tea can be very staining to the teeth.
How you can have staining with getting your teeth cleaned every 3 months is beyond me. But, tea could be a culprit.
The only thing that worked for me was to have the dentist take molds and give me the whitening gel to use at homw. The molds were like $300, and the gel is about $40 for a 10 day treatment. I did the 10 day treatment and then spot treatments yearly ($15/year). The benefit is that I own the molds forever and get whiten whenever I want with some stuff that really works. the toothpastes do little and the OTC is pretty expensive and not very effective in comparison. I also try to brush if I have any tea or soda.
As we mature I believe our enamel wears away causing our teeth to show the stains. I believe that teeth whitening causes more of the enamel to be worn away making the problem worse.
It was recommended to me that I drink my iced tea through a straw. They also said I could brush with a baking soda paste on occassion to gently remove the stain.
Pro-Enamel toothpaste is supposed to help restore some of the enamel. I also gave up drinking lemon in my tea/water.
Finally, orange hued lipsticks also make your teeth look whiter while pink makes them appear more yellow.
Well, I was at a CVS store once, and a woman was buying the generic CVS brand teeth whitening strips. Which is comparable to the Crest brand whitening strips. So I asked her, if its good and works.
She said yes. And it is much cheaper than the name brand Crest brand.
She showed me her teeth, and it was nice and white. Natural looking.
She was a woman in her forties. Or older.
I have bought the whitening trays at my dentist and he sells the 15% gel to use in the trays. These trays are custom fit to your teeth and do not extend to the gums, so the gel only sits on the teeth. They also fit much better so they hold the gel to the whole teeth (curves and all) which means better whitening. They are made of a soft rubbery material so you sort of "suck" them onto your teeth for a really tight fit after applying a thin layer of the gel in dots. They were expensive but I had tried the strips from CVS and they did nothing for my teeth. The trays are supposed to be worn a minimum of 2 hours or overnight, for up to 5 nights in a row at first. After that you just wear them a few times when you feel teeth are getting darker again. I did mine the first time in January and have not done them since, but may do another round of whitening soon.
The advise for preventing stains is to avoid tea & coffee and colored drinks (especially red drinks, like dark wine and grape juice and punch) altogether during the whitening and also for 48 hours after you stop whitening since the gel sort of "opens" the teeny tiny holes in the teeth surface (forget the name, something like tubules) since dark coloring would more easily go in. Also, forever drink colored drinks through a straw to avoid it touching your teeth. I just put a plastic straw in my travel cup but there are travel cups with heavier straws built in. Good luck.
