Home teeth bleaching kits

W

wendyjpa

Cathlete
Has anyone tried them and what did you think???
there are a few websites out there like allamericansmile.com that make fitted teeth trays for you (you send back the imprint and they make a fitted form).
I need to whiten a few shades and have a few special events coming up, would love some input.

tia,
Wendy
 
My experience is that all whiten by a few shades (basically just removing cofeen stains etc from your teeth) but nothing nearly as dramatic as you are led to believe by the commercials. If you want better results, I would recommend a dentist whiten them for you.
 
I used a system that my dentist gave to me but I used at home for 10 days for 30 minutes per day. She made em trays and I squirted the gel stuff in them every night and stuck them in (like invisalign braces). It worked great and it was about $200 per tray (one for upper and one for lower). I don't know how that compares to a home kit or to doing it at the dentist's office.
 
I've tried a few different ones, and the dentist's trays fit the best, and therefore whitened the best. They fit tightly so they really hold the gel against the teeth. Unfortunately, over the course of a few years my teeth shifted (I think from grinding at night) and the trays no longer fit, so I would have to pay to have them done again if I want to continue with it. But I highly recommend getting trays from your dentist.
 
just wanted to warn you in advance.....most of the bleaching kits make your teeth VERY sensitive. i would recommend having a dentist do it also for the best results.
 
I just finished with Crest whitening strips for 7 days, and I liked the results, it may not be like going to the dentist, but I can't afford the 2 or 3 hundred dollars to do that....
I will do the crest strips again at a later date..... Rhonda
 
I did Crest Whitestrips Premium in preparation for my wedding and they did work - my teeth did get whiter and I was pleased with the results, given it was just a cheap home kit (I wasn't expecting miracles or anything). BUT (and this is a BIG but), it made my gums and teeth SOOOO sensitive, I could not eat or drink anything hot or cold for two weeks. It was misery. Not everyone gets sensitive, but I was one of the unlucky ones. I would never use a home whitening kit again, based on that experience. I don't think I would pay a dentist to do whitening either, because it's so expensive and I really don't need it. If I had really bad stains on my teeth, I might do it though.
 
I also have used the Crest strips. These have worked very well for me. I get lots of compliments on my white teeth. The first time I used them I did 2 boxes back to back. Now I do 1 box every 6 months. I think they are particularily helpful if your teeth are dingy from coffee and wine. Not sure about smoking, though, since I don't smoke. If your teeth don't respond to the strips, than you may have stains that only the dentist can get rid of. The strips are not terribly expensive and I see coupons for them a lot of times, so I would try them first since the cost difference is $25 versus $200+.
 
the same thing happened to me materialsgirl...I used the crest whitestrips and I finished doing all the upper teeth, then when I started to do the lowers, I had a burning sensation in my gums that was so bad, I seriously felt like something was eating my gums away. Needless to say I never finished the bottoms and I called the company to see if there was anything I could do about the burning and they said no but they refunded my $$. the burning lasted like 3 days too. =.( Oh well, live and learn I guess.
 
>just wanted to warn you in advance.....most of the bleaching
>kits make your teeth VERY sensitive. i would recommend having
>a dentist do it also for the best results.


I meant to write before about the sensitivity issue but I forgot! I had a little bit of sensitivity when I bleached but it went away a few days after I finished the process. My teeth are generally a sensitive so it was just a little bit more sensitive for me. My friend bleached all at once (one visit) at her dentist's office and she had TERRIBLE sensitivity. It was probably b/c I did mine little by little and she did it all at once. She generally doesn't have sensitivity but she was suffering in pain when she had hers done. Just my experience but definitely a consideration! :)
 
I used Rembrandt. The trays that came with it were "adjustable" in that you place them in hot water & then insert them & they "mold" to your teeth. I thought they were a very good fit.

HOWEVER, and this is huge, my teeth became sensitive & after the 3rd treatment the inside of my lower mouth had such a bad chemical burn (that I didn't feel until that treatment) I had a difficult time talking & eating for about 3 days. This "burn" literally did not show up until the 3rd treatment. It was very painful.

I, also, didn't see much of a change & my dentist told me this was the best home treatment kit available. Yeah, well, $25 bucks thrown down the toilet.
 
I've done both - home kit and one through the dentist. They BOTH made my teeth very sensitive, and the one through the dentist was supposed to be for people with sensitive teeth.

But it was worth it I guess. Just a word of warning, it only works on actual teeth. If you have bonding or veneers, they won't bleach along with your teeth. I learned that one the hard way!
 
Well, not to scare you or anything, but I felt there was no way of keeping the chemicals out of my mouth with the Crest whitestrips. I spent the whole half hour without swallowing. What else would keep those chemicals from going down your throat? The Rembrandt seem less scary to me, although I don't know if they work.
 
I think it depends on how yellow your teeth are and the cause. If your teeth have yellowed from things like drinking tea or coffee, the at home systems work pretty well. If you've just never had "white white" teeth, they don't seem to do as much (as is the case for me).
 
Not to be gross or anything - but I did the Crest Whitestrips and I loved the taste when I took them off. (Maybe I'm just weird..)

They did help me quite a bit. My teeth were pretty yellow though I'm not sure why. I don't drink coffee, smoke, or drink red wine. ???

ANYWAY, my teeth did get very sensitive while I was whitening and lasted for about 2 weeks afterward. I still think they are more sensitive than they were before but it's getting back to normal now.
 
I did the Crest Whitestrips, too. Hated the taste. I also didn't swallow while they were in. Instead, I would have to sort of drool into the sink occassionally as I couldn't spit...it would dislodge the strips. Sorry to be gross there. :D

I used the 14 day pack and it did a decent job with no sensitivity that I could detect.

Lunacat
 
Yup, me too Luna, I was spitting into the sink for the whole time. So afraid of swallowing that stuff!!:eek:
 
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