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Tooth Whitening Products? 138

Posted by Cliff from the 4-out-of-5-agree dept.
DentistsScareMe! asks: "I'll admit it: I've got yellow-stained teeth, and it bugs the hell out of me. I've seen ads (infomercials) over the past few years, but knew them to be mostly hoax products and have steered clear. But now I've noticed the more major (and reputable) pharmaceutical companies jumping into the act, offering their own products. They're moderately expensive ($30-$50), but I'd be willing to foot the large sum _if_ I knew how well they worked. Their ads claim clinical proof, but what exactly does that mean? Did a researcher test the drug on a sample of people to measure effectiveness? Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval? Has anyone out there used any such product, or know someone who has? Care to comment on how well it has worked?"
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Tooth Whitening Products? More

Tooth Whitening Products?

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  • This stuff is great, it makes my mouth feel great (fresh, clean, and tingley) everytime I brush. It seems to lighten slightly more than other toothpastes, but the tingle and feel of your mouth are much better than any other toothpaste I've ever tried. None of the other soda and peroxide pastes leave the same tingle, and its no more expensive than any other branded tube.

  • news for nerds? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by kootch ( 81702 )
    Are we all supposed to identify w/ the submitter because we, as a group of self-proclaimed nerds, should have poor dental hygeine from too much coffee and poor consideration of our health?

    Someone please, explain to me why this was posted?

    GO TO THE DAMN DENTIST!

  • Offtopic (Score:2, Insightful)

    by skinfitz ( 564041 )
    Dude - go and talk to a dentist. This is /.

    • Re:Offtopic (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Slowping ( 63788 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:33AM (#6440374) Homepage Journal
      people ask questions to slashdot that should be directed to a lawyer all the time here. Why should teeth whitening be any different? I'm sure this affects just as many people, if not more, than some of those legal questions.

      If we're going to apply standards for what gets posted to Ask Slashdot, we should do it uniformly, with well set rules.
    • We need offtopic posts like this to keep /. from becoming boring. And hey, maybe someone can explain how teeth whiteners work and then it's nerd stuff all of a sudden (although not news).
    • Well, yeah this fella's a bit offtopic unless you squint a bit. Most programmers I know are heavy coffee drinkers and I understand coffee is a "tooth-stainer".

      My opinion is 'live with it'. I can't imagine any method of whitening teeth that won't damage them.

  • crest white strips (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I remember reading a newspaper article a while ago on the effectiveness of teeth whitening products. The dentists they interviewed said that whitening toothpastes were generally useless because the paste is not in contact with teeth for long enough. The one product that they did recommend were crest white strips which you stick on and leave on.

    • My dad, the dentist (Score:3, Interesting)

      by radon28 ( 593565 )
      You're right. I remember when these first came to market, my dad, who is a dentist and performs teeth whitening procedures (among other things, of course), was actually worried because these OTC products whitened teeth almost as well as he did, but for a tiny, tiny fraction of the price. I think you only need to wear them twice a day, for half an hour each time, and over a few weeks your teeth will turn several shades whiter.
      • I bought a box of the whitening strips. I found using them to be a big pain. Leaving the stupid things on for 1/2 hr to an hour is not a luxury I have every day (let alone twice a day.)

        On the other hand, for the week or so I stuck with it, my teeth (to me anyhow) seemed a little brighter.

        Thank you /. for reminding me to make a dentist appointment!
      • I've got very strong tooth enamel, never had a cavity, don't have problems with plaque or tartar, have fairly straight teeth, and so on. IOW, I have never had a problem with my teeth.

        Two days into the Whiteneing Strips programme, and my teeth ACHED!! Even just breathing through my mouth hurt. Had problems chewing for a bit. Had to switch to a one-day-on, two-days-off rotation to keep the pain away, and never used more than half the strips in the box.

        I highly recommend people don't use these things. W
        • I wonder if Proctor & Gamble have anything in their contract to let them out of paying if comments like this were attached as replies to such perfectly-staged shills as the grandparent and great-grandparent comments.
          To the editors' credit, I just turned on score display, and see that the parent post isn't moderated to oblivion - in fact, sports an informative. I may very well be wrong, and the article is not a shill, but rather a very ill-considered legitimate question. It's just that now, with the p

  • IANAD (Score:3, Funny)

    by PD ( 9577 ) * <slashdotlinux@pdrap.org> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:22AM (#6440342) Homepage Journal
    I am not a Dentist! Now that's a new one for Slashdot.

    Seriously though, they work. Even the cheap ones work. At least they won't hurt you if you follow the directions, and if they do, I'm not a lawyer either, nor am I a millionaire that you can win money from. Before I spend a pile of dough I'd try a cheap one from the drugstore first. But that's me, and my teeth aren't yellow.

  • Welcome to /.'s new ad affiliate program. (Score:3, Funny)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:28AM (#6440360)
    Well, not exactly new; many open source projects have been signed on for years, as well as some has-been writers and editors, and more recently some p2p companies as well, some government lobbies, the occasional tech press release or product endorsement, and a few anime and game production houses. But Crest is our first mainstream corporate client outside of the IT industry!

    Please give them a warm welcome; you'll be seeing more of them at least every month, with specials on such riveting topics as tooth whitening, OSS in dentistry, the importance of regular check-ups, and more on the government's nefarious conspiracy with the snack food industry.

  • coffee and pepsi and coke, oh my (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Naikrovek ( 667 ) <jjohnson@p[ ]com ['sg.' in gap]> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:36AM (#6440429)
    stop drinking coffee, pepsi, and coca-cola, and your teeth will whiten on their own.

    the problem is that most people don't want to get rid of the things in their lives that cause problems, and elect to fix the effects rather than the problem itself.

    stop drinking and eating things that stain your teeth, and they won't be yellow anymore. simple as that.

    you'll save money, too.

    • Re:coffee and pepsi and coke, oh my (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Black Perl ( 12686 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @08:30AM (#6441877)
      Also stop drinking red wine, grape juice, and eating tomatoes and chocolate. Oh, and stop getting older too, as your teeth become more porous.

      In my opinion, the thing to do is to stop thinking of yellowing teeth as a "problem" that needs to be fixed. It's natural.

      But if you are unduly influenced by Hollywood or all the Photoshopped magazine pictures, the thing to do is go to the dentist and get the real thing--a custom moulded tooth tray and whitening gel. My wife does this. There's a bit more upfront cost, but it works far better than the over-the-counter stuff, which won't get between your teeth.

      • Maybe its just me, but I find that certain foods do promote discolouration of the teeth. And you can avoid them.

        Avoid smokes, coffee and tea. Increase your intake of calcium. Brush your teeth properly.
        • Even with all that, some people at least will still get pretty heavy discoleration. I don't drink soda, coffee or tea. I only eat snackfoods at most once or twice per month. I do get 100% of my RDA of calcium, floss once a day, use mouthwash and brush after two meals a day, and rince my mouth out with water after lunch. Doing all that since my mid teens, I've still wound up with yellowed teeth at 24.
      • Speaking of between the teeth. Whoa, when you lose a tooth and get a chance to see what's between those suckers, it makes a little yellow on the outsides seem quite irrelevant.
        I've lost about three so far to root canals. Two broken as a youngster and one rotted out from general deterioration as I started getting older.
        Seeing what was between those puppies when one came out terrified me. I floss daily and brush plenty of times, but that doesn't matter. It's scarry.
        Now I'm hooked on these int

  • Ask Slashdot: Antifungal Treatments? (Score:5, Funny)

    by flockofseagulls ( 48580 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:50AM (#6440491) Homepage
    I'll admit it: I've got fungus growing in my genital area and between my toes, and it bugs the hell out of me. I've seen ads (infomercials) over the past few years, but knew them to be mostly hoax products and have steered clear. But now I've noticed RiteAid and Walgreens selling "athletes foot" and "jock itch" treatments. They're moderately expensive ($5-$15), but I'd be willing to foot the large sum _if_ I knew how well they worked. Their ads claim clinical proof, but what exactly does that mean? Did a researcher test the drug on a sample of scrotii to measure effectiveness? Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval? Has anyone out there used any such product, or know someone who has? Did you use spray, ointment, or powder? Care to comment on how well it has worked? How long can you wear the same socks and underpants with this medication? Would you like to come over and apply the ointment or powder?

  • Here we go (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cinematique ( 167333 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:52AM (#6440494)
    Alright, I can speak on this with a good degree of authority, even though I am not a dentist.

    First off - the toothpastes are no good. As someone already mentioned, they don't keep the peroxide close to your teeth long enough. Equally crappy are those paint-on peroxides.

    White Strips are great, but they don't whiten all of your teeth, so you're left with a white section on otherwise dingy teeth. Plus it's relatively expensive for the results you get.

    If you really want to whiten your teeth... you really should go see a dentist. You need to go regularly to make sure you don't have teeth that are rotting from the inside out. ...but I'm going to assume that you don't want to go to the dentist because they can be very expensive. Assuming that your teeth are in relatively good shape, but you drink a lot of coffee or what have you, your best bet is to search Google for a company offering both carbamide peroxide gel in syringes and CUSTOM-fit trays.

    Here's the drill - You get a kit with a few syringes filled the carbamide peroxide gel, two trays, a lump of putty, and a pre-paid envelope. You take the putty, mash it into a tray and make an impression of your teeth. Take the tray, drop it into the envelope and send it to the company. Several weeks later, they send you custom-fit trays. Put some gel in the NEW tray and put the tray in your mouth for 15-30 minutes a day for a week or two. Several days later, bam... white teeth!

    • Re: Here we Go (Score:4, Insightful)

      by TubeSteak ( 669689 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @08:43AM (#6441997) Journal
      White strips are 'great' but they don't whiten all your teeth and they don't last. They're all 4/6/8% of some type of peroxide whitening agent and do not leave a lasting change. The kit that's being talked about above, is more like 18/22% and it will permanently change your smile in about 2 weeks. They suck b/c the stuff tastes kinda funky and you have to do it an hour each day, but the only possible side affect is sensitive teeth, which will go away if you stop using it.

      Once again, don't use those shitty whitening strips. they'll only help if you keep using them, which is great for the company that's selling. Go make one big spend and have a permanently whiter smile.

    • Another option (Score:3, Informative)

      by simetra ( 155655 )
      I don't know if these still exist, but when I was a youth, they had these tooth guard things to put in your mouth when doing sports. First you boil some water, then drop this thing into it. When it's hold and melty, you put it in your mouth and bite down. It forms to your teeth and stays that way when it cools. This would save you the postage and time of mailing such a thing out.

      • They're nowhere NEAR the quality of custom-fit trays. The custom tray requires much less gel, and since it's closer to your teeth, less is wasted in the actual process as well.

        Mouthgards suck.

        If you're gonna do it, do it right.

  • Have you tried liquid paper? (Score:5, Funny)

    by MarkusQ ( 450076 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @02:29AM (#6440597) Journal

    Have you tried liquid paper?

    If not, don't. Liquid paper is not a good way to whiten your teeth. Normally I wouldn't think it neccessary to point that out, but since you also seemed to have missed the fact that:

    Slashdot is not a good place to get medical advice
    I thought that it might be worth mentioning.

    -- MarkusQ

    • Re:Have you tried liquid paper? (Score:5, Funny)

      by kinnell ( 607819 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @06:03AM (#6441109)
      Slashdot is not a good place to get medical advice

      That's where you're wrong. I happen to be a world renowned dentist and specialise in the whitening of grubby teeth. The solution is as follows:

      1. You can't whiten you're teeth completely while there still in you're mouth - either have a dentist remove them, or if that is too expensive, remove them yourself. A pair of pliars will do the trick.
      2. You need to dissolve the grime, so leave them to soak for two weeks in a cup of concentrated sulphuric acid. You can order this from a chemical supplier, but your local garage will probably have some in supply.
      3. Remove the teeth from the acid, remebering to rinse well in distilled water.
      4. Now simply replace you teeth in your mouth used the glue of your choice. I recommend araldite. A strip of gaffer/duct tape can help to hold them in until the glue sets.

  • The absolute best product (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @03:03AM (#6440681)
    Is the Crest's night time whiting stuff. You paint your teeth with it before you go to bed, and then brush it off in the morning. I recently used it before a wedding, and lots of people noticed my teeth were much whiter. I've also read some reviews that rated it above the others. It's a two week treatment, and you have to get used to sleeping with it on, but it works really really well.
    • I always found that Tipp-ex does a much 'whiter' job (closer to #000000) and can be bought in bulk from your local Office World.

      Less confrontational too, the checkout dollie will never know that you want it for your teeth so you can avoid talking your problems out with someone! woohoo, get back to your D&D quicker!
    • I agree fully about the night time gel. It's easy to apply and it coats your teeth for the entire night (although the effects lose potency after an hour or so, still, no harm). The key with all treatments is contact time. I used the night time gel from Crest for 2 and a half weeks and my teeth were sparkling white. It also helped reguvinate my somewhat haphazard brushing schedule. (I admit it. I don't brush everyday. I'm lazy.)

  • Reminder... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by floydigus ( 415917 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @03:30AM (#6440743)
    News for Nerds. Stuff that matters

    What's next on ask Slashdot?

    "Penis extensions that really work?"
    "Recommendations for a sub-$500 shoe and handbag combination?"
    • I really like your "Penis extensions that really work?" question; the modern society's cosmetic expectations, such as for white teeth, is as silly as men's worry about not having a big enough penis. Damn. You really hit the matter right-on; it's not only off-topic for Slashdot; it's an extremely stupid thing to worry about.

      Here's some real advice to the ask slashdotter: Stop caring about what other people think about your appearance.

      • Right...

        And let me guess: you don't comb your hair, don't wear deodorant, don't shave or trim your beard, and always buy an off brand product if one is available of equal quality to a name brand.
    • What's next on ask Slashdot?

      Ask Slashdot: Do you ever get that not-so-fresh-feeling?

      Hmm. Maybe that would make a better poll.

  • some info (Score:4, Informative)

    by lingqi ( 577227 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @03:42AM (#6440765) Journal
    as much as /. is not a good place for medical advice: howstuffworks [howstuffworks.com] is pretty good.

  • Whitetooth is the best. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Zarf ( 5735 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @04:11AM (#6440835) Journal
    Whitetooth [whitetooth.com] is like bluetooth [bluetooth.com] only without as much IBM in it.

    I'm told that when it's officially launched Whitetooth will feature full backwards compatability with Bluetooth. Whitetooth features higher bandwith and increased range.

    I recently feild tested Bluetooth and Whitetooth in a few clubs and bars. Whitetooth fared better client responsiveness than Bluetooth or even the ubiquitous Yellowtooth. Clients which were signaled with the Whitetooth "grin" responded far more frequently than when presented with the Bluetooth "grin". The experimental Yellowtooth would often cause a total loss of communications with client devices in the vacinity.

    I would say that Whitetooth has a much brighter future than Bluetooth from these informal feild tests. I personally would avoid use of Yellowtooth until it gets cleaned up. If you don't have a Whitetooth vendor in your particular market, Bluetooth is still a good solution...
  • It should be obvious to an idiot that the words "clinically proven" can be used with relative impunity. I mean, just look at the crap they spout in hair and cosmetics commercials.

    Jennfier Aniston proclaiming "Here comes the science bit" ...Where? I don't see no fucking science in this stinking ad!
    • Quite. All that spam you get for various enhancement products should have taught all but the most gullible that this was the case. And *that* stuff even claims to have been endorsed by ABC, CNN, Fox and OPRAH! for God's sake. I mean if it's good enough for Oprah it must be good enough for Joe Sixpack, right?

      Although quite what Oprah wants herbal penis extension tablets (no pumps!) for, I don't want to know. ;)

  • How to have white teeth... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @05:27AM (#6441024) Homepage Journal
    Don't drink coffee.

    Don't smoke anything.

    Don't drink lots of soda or eat lots of candy.

    Do brush your teeth everymorning and every night.

    Voila! Perfectly clean teeth. I'm 21 and I've had 1 cavity ever take my advice. I attribute it mostly to my never drinking coffee or soda, ever.
    • I only drink fruit juice, milk and water (in that order of magnitude) and try to stick to eating fruit as snacks (not perfect tho :)), bursh every night and morning but still have yellow-ish teeth

      Do not assume that everyone has naturally good coloured teeth
    • Good advise, except that its waaaayyy too late for most of us slashdotters. Plus I would probably lapse into a coma if I didn't drink coffee or soda on a regular basis.
    • Heh. I'm now 29 and have *zero* fillings. I've a few minor cavities that have built up over the years, but nothing (in my dentist's opinion) that's worth the trauma of filling. Suits me.

      Unfortunately, my teeth are slightly yellowed due to some medicine or other that I was taking when my teeth were coming through. Bummer.

      For the record, I eat chocolate fairly regularly (mainly ~50-70% cocoa stuff) and drink red wine regularly, but I only drink tea/coffee/cola occasionally, brush morning and night, and us

    • You forget that teeth can be stained by the color that occurs naturally in foods. The beta carotene found in food products can stain teeth even if you've never touched the things you mention above. Other foods cause staining as well. Brushing your teeth will not get rid of this staining. Your advice is good for those who want to keep health teeth, but it will not necessarily keep them white.
    • Dental health seems to be genetic. I used to drink LOTS of soda and have never had a single cavity. An aquiantance of mine never drinks the stuff and her teeth are rotting out of her head.
  • The obvious one would be to cut down on the fags. If, however, you're one of the 31% {and the rest!} of smokers who don't want to give up, then I reckon your best option probably is to use sodium hydrogen carbonate {bicarbonate of soda} which you can get from any supermarket. Add toothpaste to wet brush, push it down between the bristles with your finger, and dip in a shallow tub of bicarb. Clean one side. Rinse brush, reload and clean other side. Rinse brush, reload and clean front teeth. Rinse y
  • (obcomment) This is "News for nerd - stuff that matters?" I don't think so, Tim.(/obcomment)

    Try BRUSHING your teeth. Really brushing - if you spend less than 2 minutes you aren't doing it correctly. Go to your dentist and get some disclosing tablets - these are basically food coloring that will stick to the plaque on your teeth. Brush. Then chew up a tablet. Then look in the mirror at all the places you DIDN'T reach. Brush again.

    I drink a fair amount of coffee (expresso, to boot). My teeth aren't unnatura
    • I have to wonder what things will be like in 20 years, when the current crop of 20 somethings are 40 years old, wearing dentures because they burned their teeth out, running around saying "What? What did you say? Eh?" because of their ThunderThump3000 car stereos. I'm going to LAUGH at them!

      I just hope we're further away from 'socialized medicine' than we are now, so we won't all end up paying for the idiot things those clods are doing to their bodies today.

      If you want a medical speciality to go into now
    • Certainly clean teeth are a good thing, but don't
      get your hopes up too far.

      I seriously doubt that behaviour relates strongly to tooth
      color. While my primary teeth were blue-white, my
      permanent teeth have been yellow #2 since day 1. The
      same is true of all of the members of my father's family,
      so I'm inclined to think that it is a genetic condition.

      Of course smoking and drinking coffee will stain teeth,
      but that doesn't affect their intrinsic permanent color.

  • Worst...Thread...Ever... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NickFusion ( 456530 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @08:29AM (#6441866) Homepage
    Brush your damn teeth, and quit worrying. Were in ghods green earth did we get the idea that our teeth had to have an unnatural blue-white brilliance that can be used to signal low-flying planes if the sun hits them right? Oh, right. Television.

    They're bone. They yellow over time and with use. It's a natural human thing. Get over it. Unless you use them professionally, say as a movie actor, you can probably just eek through your life with a slightly off-white tint, and still, somehow, die happy.

  • Bleaching teeth (Score:5, Informative)

    by Silh ( 70926 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @08:50AM (#6442094)
    As a dentist, first of all, I cannot recommend anything for a specific situation without actually seeing the situation myself. There are different reasons why teeth are yellow, and different ways of whitening as well. As mentioned by many others, get a dentist to have a look at the situation first.

    For some more general information about bleaching products: They are all peroxide-based, usually carbamide peroxide, which breaks down into hydrogen peroxide upon use. There are various ways of delivery. The over-the-counter methods such as the strips or paint-on system are lower in concentration than what you would find in a dentist-provided system, but basically the same thing. If you see a dentist, you can either have a home bleaching system made up for you, or have in-office bleaching done. The take-home system entails wearing a custom-made tray carrying the bleaching gel overnight. In-office bleaching uses quite a high concentration of peroxide, applied over a short period of time. Which one you pick depends on how much hassle you want, and costs will vary.

    How well does it work? Generally, there will be some whitening, but how much depends on the patient. Smoking, coffee, and foods that stain are absolute no-no's, especially right when you're doing the bleaching, since the teeth at that point can very easily pick stains back up. 'Clinically proven' is a phrase I absolutely hate. To me, it's just a marketing phrase, and says nothing about the amount or quality of research that has been done on a particular product.

    Last of all, there can be side effects from bleaching. Many people have reported sensitivity (hot and cold) after they've done it; It goes away for some. Also, I don't know of any long-term studies on whether the teeth are damaged in any way, or more susceptible to decay/etc., so that question is still up in the air.

    Personally, I do bleaching for patients on occasion, but I don't really push it, due to concern about side effects. Plus, I find the resulting look can be unnatural compared to how natural teeth are supposed to look.

    • Re:Bleaching teeth (Score:4, Insightful)

      by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @11:04AM (#6443439) Homepage
      "Also, I don't know of any long-term studies on whether the teeth are damaged in any way, or more susceptible to decay/etc., so that question is still up in the air."

      And there's the kicker: you may get white teeth, but in doing so, you might also end up destroying them in the long run.

      Faced with the choice of yellowish teeth 'til I die, or no teeth starting at age 55, I think I'll take the yellowish teeth for $300, Alex.
      • Faced with the choice of yellowish teeth 'til I die, or no teeth starting at age 55, I think I'll take the yellowish teeth for $300, Alex.

        $300 for yellowish teeth? I got mine for free...

  • Whitening at home vs. dentist (Score:5, Interesting)

    by maunleon ( 172815 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @09:21AM (#6442402)
    You basically have three options:

    1. Buying somethng off shelf

    These most of the times do not work. They are too weak, and they wash off too easily. If they have mouth guards, they are cheap ones that don't fit well.

    The advantage is that if you have sensitive teeth this is the best option. And it's the cheapest.

    Cost: $10-$40

    2. Using something like BriteSmile or.. (whatever other names are.. Zoom?)

    These work best. You sit in a chair, you watch a movie while an assistant props your mouth open and applies some paste. Then, they shine a light on the paste for an hour. You walk out with about 7 shades whiter.

    Cost: about $500.
    Advantages: fast! You can do it over lunch hour. Good results.

    3. Dentist at-home whitening

    Dentist gives you some syringes and a mouthguard. You add a little liquid to the mouthguard and wear them anywhere from 20 mins to overnight.

    Cost: about $300 initial (mouth guard is expensive), plus about $45 to resupply syringes periodically. Can buy them much cheaper off the internet (same big brands)

    Advantages: cheaper than britesmile, works much better than the off-the-shelf ones. Good results.
    Disadvantages: expensive, most sensitivity issues (especially with 20% concentrations)

    So, don't waste your money on off the shelf ones. Also, these things don't work on everything. If your teeth are gray because some medicine you took, you may need caps instead of bleaching. A dentist can tell you best.


    • As tea and coffee are the most powerful tooth stainers, how about neutralizing the staining ingredients first before they can get into your mouth by adding a de-colorizer like activated charcoal and a pinch of baking soda to your tea and coffee?

  • Gnarly Yellow Teeth are Healthy (Score:3, Funny)

    by CyberGarp ( 242942 ) <Shawn.Garbett@org> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @09:41AM (#6442614) Homepage
    I grew up drinking well water. It turned my teeth a really funky yellow. Everyone's teeth from this area were yellow. Guess what, I've never had a cavity. I rarely goto the dentist. They always try to talk me into a teeth whitening program. They never find a cavity. I'm 36. I'm convinced that once they bleach those wonderful minerals out of my teeth, then I'll start having all those wonderful cavities that people with white teeth suffer from. Also as a side benefit, they glow brightly under black light, so when I goto a funky bar-- I got the brightest teeth. Don't bleach them, smile proudly anyway, screw marketing. Please brush however, noone likes bad breath. P.S. Slashdot is not a place for any kind of real advice.
  • Just to put my oar in when I was last at my dentist there was a note up that they were no longer able to offer teeth whitening treatment due to EU laws.

    A quick search showed that as it was a cosmetic treatment the current laws restrict the concentration of hydrogen peroxide to 0.1%. Home kits apparently have about 3.6% and some treatments performed by dentists have up to 38%.

    The law is being an ass, but this should come as a surprise.
    • > A quick search showed that as it was a cosmetic treatment the current laws restrict the concentration of hydrogen peroxide to 0.1%. Home kits apparently have about 3.6% and some treatments performed by dentists have up to 38%

      When I read about the in-office systems at 38%, all I could do was say "No. No no no no no no no no no."

      3%, sure. 6%, maybe. But 38%? WTF d00d? Doctor, are you farking nuts? H202 is nasty stuff, crap, that's almost halfway to rocket fuel, and it's not something that

    • Um, like people nt he UK care about their teeth?
      I've always thought it was a stereo type and/or a big joke. But it actually is true. Worst teeth evar.

  • Peroxide (Score:3, Funny)

    by pmz ( 462998 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @10:08AM (#6442846) Homepage
    Screw the over-the-counter stuff. Get your hazmat permit and go straight to the rocket-fuel supply store. Some of that hypergolic pure hydrogen peroxide will blow you away with whiteness! Guaranteed results with the first application!

    Warning: be very careful to not spill product during application. All surfaces, including the countertop, the cabinet, and likely the walls and foundation of your house may incur noticable damage. Perhaps the housing association won't notice the new windows...but you can't be too careful!
  • Why whiten when you can get Mr. Bling [mrbling.com] instead?

    Sure, it's a little more expensive, but think of all the fine honeys you'll get. You won't even have to get em drunk first, which can add up to substantially lower total cost of ownership.

    ~GoRK
  • Screw this being marked as a troll...this is getting rediculouse...cliff needs a big red muzzle.
    (notice, I didn't use my karma bonus)
  • I did a one our whitening treatment to my teeth and it produced dramatic results. The treatment was similar to "Brite Smile" but it was equipment from rembrandt instead. Here is a before/after picture. A2 was the color of my front teeth, A3 was the color of my canines

    "Dramatic Results" [johnmarkmusic.com]

    You can get your teeth this much whiter with other methods, but it will also take a much longer time. Over the counter stop doesnt work very well at all, no matter what it is.

    However, you can get your dentist to make you
  • There was a really good Slate article on that very topic last year: http://slate.msn.com/id/2063524/ [msn.com]
  • Works slowly, but it works. And, it tastes a *lot* better than the other whitening toothpastes I've tried (Colgate, Crest, Arm & Hammer).
  • I've tried the crest whitening strips....(~$30) didn't work so well. I tried the cheap goo in the mouth peice (~$15 - forgot the maker)....not so good. I then tried the rembrandt goo in the mouth piece (~$35). This stuff works pretty well on coffee and tobacco stains. Just one man's opinion.
  • These both work, and work fairly quickly.

    However, the Whitenening Strips made my teeth ache if I used them for two days in a row. Had to switch to a one-day-on, two-days-off rotation.

    The Whiteneing Gel works ok, but you have to let it dry on your teeth without you tongue or lips touching your teeth (takes about two minutes). That was a real pain.

    I also tried another one that had used a gel and a tooth mold. That one didn't work too well, and it really made me salivate, which made a mess. Stopped usin

  • tooth whitening at home (Score:4, Informative)

    by budgenator ( 254554 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @12:53PM (#6444443) Journal
    While I'm not a dentist, I am a Dental Technicican who works for a dentist, and read the trades arround the office; so any opinions should be considered as questions for your licensed dental health providers.
    1. Clinical Proof = A sample of patients, selected by the manufacter to be highly motivated to comply with treatment protocols, and to have stains that the product are most effective against, have achieved a statisticaly significant whitening. The tester are dentists of course, and publish in peer reviewed journals, so they of course use a professional level of ethics; but because the work is funded by a vendor, results that are complimentary to the vendor tend to get submitted to the publisher, results that arn't tend to get forgotten,
    2. The amount of whitening is usualy poorly defined as a "shade" rather than well defined as in "Patient presented with shade A3.5 on the Vita Lumin(Tm) vacuum shade guide(an industry standard shade guide) and achieve shade A2 apon completetion of treatment".
    3. FDA approval for Dental products are not as riggerous as for Medical Products. In fact materials that are FDA regulated are not regulated by OSHA,alowing dental personnel to be exposed to chemicals that would not be allowed in any other work places.
    4. Teeth have two types of stain,
      1. external or extrinsic this is a staining of the bio-film, Plaque and tartar.
      2. internal or intrinstic staining of the actual tooth enamal such as coffee/tea/tobaco or even deeper levels as in tetracycline stains.

    6. All tooth whitening products work by oxygen bleaching, which is released from peroxide ions, either hydrogen peroxide (weaker) or from carboxamides (stronger). Additionaly the oxygen tends to kill or inhibit anaerobic organisms which are more likely to be pathogenic and odor causing.


    so I would recommend
    1. a professional teeth cleaning at your dentist's office or a local
      dental hygiene school.
    2. Using dent-mat's "Dazzling White" tooth paste kit,(low abrasion) or at least a bicarbonate of soda/hydrogen peroxide tooth paste and J&J's whitening dental floss for any remaining between teeth stains (abrasive).
    3. an Over The Counter toothe whitening product.


    don't get too carried away with the whitening, adults don't look natural with milk-white teeth, and teeth that are too white can make matching shades for restorative work immpossible. As for effectiveness I'd say that if the crest products were not effective, then the dental
    community would not be so royaly pissed off at them for marketing direct to the public, instead of through the dentists. In offfice or dentist supplied take home kits do tend to work faster.
  • http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/898648/posts
  • Talk to your dentist. They can do all sorts of things in addition to the products you see advertised.

    Some dentists can get the Crest white strips in a much stronger version and I think more for the money.

    All in all talk to your dentist. The whitening strips work (not perfect but results are good) even for those who have yellow teeth by nature/accident (thanks to those drugs babies are no longer given).
  • Crest WhiteStrips are available in two forms. There is the kind that you can only get at the dentist, and then the kind you can get over the counter in many drugstores and groceries.

    The OTC version is much more dilute, and costs nearly the same as the dentist version.

    You are better off going to the dentist and getting those - which are $60 and work - then instead going to the store and buying them for $40 and having them not work.
  • While all tooth paste is mildly abrasive, the whitening ones are more abbrasive. You are not supposed to use whitening tooth pastes all the time. Eventually, you'll wear down your enamel.

    Remember the key to life: everything in moderation.

  • I have noticed that my herpes outbreaks are getting more nasty than usual. My genital warts are flaring up as well. What does the typical slashdot geek do to treat their symptoms? I've heard various TV and radio ads for products that claim to help, but before I shell out the $50 for the product, I'd like to hear how well it works. What are your thoughts?

  • Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval?

    I'm not a dentist, but my Dad is. The upshot is this: look on the packaging. On the front you're looking for a little logo that says:

    A D A
    ACCEPTED
    American
    Dental
    Association(R)

    On the back, it should have a little blurb that says something like:

    "[This product] has been shown to be an effective [product for a specific purpose] that can be of significant value when used as directed in conjunction with [other steps] in a

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