Teeth Bleaching ????

amdwolfman

Senior member
Dec 25, 2001
605
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I wonder if there is a at home remedy for whitening teeth , and not paying a arm and a leg to the dentist . anyone have some 'at home remedy's '?,,baking soda and peroxide are the active ingredients usually. But i'm wondering if there is a method that works ?
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
white paint works for me. i tried crayons once but that just wasn't happening.
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
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I wouldn't mess around with some home prepped stuff on your teeth, could do some damage.
 

Xenon14

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,065
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Don't smoke, or drink coffee/tea, or do anything that stains your teeth. Brush regularly, preferably with "whitening" toothpaste.
 

Jejunum

Golden Member
Jun 19, 2000
1,828
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use crest white strips
they are cheap (49 dollars i think) clinically proven
and safer then bleaching

bleaching is like atleast 300 btw (so ive read)

 

cjchaps

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2000
3,013
1
81
I've heard you can use oxyclean on your teeth because it just concentrated hydrogen pyroxide.
 

bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
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home concoctions sound far too risky if you're that worried about the appearance of your teeth!
 

darkjester

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2001
1,424
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<< use crest white strips
they are cheap (49 dollars i think) clinically proven
and safer then bleaching
bleaching is like atleast 300 btw (so ive read)
>>


Yeah, bleaching is mad expensive. I think my dentist will do it for about $250, and it's not actually bleeching, but some dentist-performed equivalent of Crest White Strips. Try the strips and see how that works for you. I think it would be safe. A company like Crest can't afford to put some dangerous (such as teeth falling out, etc.) crap on the market. Try 'em and report back, guinea pi-- um, I mean, ATOT pioneer! :p
 

amdwolfman

Senior member
Dec 25, 2001
605
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0
rofl @ Try 'em and report back, guinea pi-- um, I mean, ATOT pioneer!

I live in canada,,so u can imagine what the price is here for crest whitening strips,,I haven't even heard of that b 4 , think i'll look at the Crest site and take a boo . thx,,
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,947
572
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The tooth whitening systems available at Eckerds, Rite-Aid, CVS and probably Walgreens, too, are essentially the same active ingredient: carbamide peroxide. Carbamide peroxide is a more stable form of hydrogen peroxide, which is what does the whitening (oxidation), and the solution is usually anhydrous glycerin based to give a thick gelled consistency.

When the gelled form mixes with your saliva, it breaks down (probably not technically 'correct' for all the chemistry brains) into hydrogen peroxide. The carbamide form is expressed in a percentage that is approx. 3 times the percentage of hydrogen peroxide it will yield. IOW, 20% carbamide will effectively yield 6.6% hydrogen peroxide.

Dentists have for decades recommended hydrogen peroxide as an oral rinse to promote good oral health. When hydrogen peroxide was available in strengths as high as 20%, people were using it straight out of the bottle without diluting it despite the dentists warnings. In this strength, it is extremely irritating to gums and can be caustic (concentrated peroxide is used in industrial cleaning processes, rocket fuels, and explosives). Today, it is only sold in 3% concentrations OTC.

The only advantage a dentist has is they are able to buy and use stronger concentrations of the same active ingredient. The dentist avoids irritation and potential damage to gums and oral tissues from these strong peroxide concentrations by forming custom mouth trays that "fit" your teeth to prevent the peroxide from contacting your gums except for some contact with the gum line. You want to bleach your teeth, not your soft tissues.

The consensus seems to be, higher concentrations + fewer treatments produce a better whitening effect than lower concentrations + more treatments. But, greater degrees of irritation and tooth sensitivity are more likely with higher concentrations, too, so there is a bit of trade-off here. A sensistive tooth toothpaste such as Sensodyne can be used to counter tooth sensitivity, though the senstivity will begin to subside on its own after a few days of terminating treatment.

I recommend products containing no more than 10 - 15 percent carbamide peroxide. Do NOT use this stuff if your teeth and gums are not in good condition. If you have a chipped tooth or a small cavity, this stuff can send you up the wall when that peroxide finds the nerve. It won't "harm" the nerve, but it will stimulate the heck out of it for 5 or 10 minutes. Don't say I didn't warn you.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,947
572
126


<< You sound like you're a real live dentist or just play one on AT >>

If I were a dentist, I would have said, "You need to see your dentist for bleaching and pay whatever his asking price. Don't do this at home, you could kill everyone within one square mile with this stuff." hehe
 

blahblah99

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 2000
2,689
0
0
Teeth whitening systems use some chemical called carbamide peroxide and that is the only active ingredient in those so-called teeth whitening systems. You can pick up a tube of those at any dental supply retailer. Or if your daring, you can pick up a complete system with 22% carbamide peroxide on ebay for about $30. Thats enough whitening gel to last you for a couple of months. I ordered a pack and will let u guys know if it works. that is, if i'm still alive :)
 

abc

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 1999
3,116
0
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I think the over the counter 'home' stuff is garbage. There's plenty of info online about teeth whitening btw, you can pretty much by the same stuff dentists buy. there are about 3 'industry' brands out there, spend some time researching, my problem is that it's been about 2yrs since i was up to date with this stuff so i can't help ya that efficiently

hey they say as you get old, the first thing you lose is your memory right?
and well, i can't remember what the second thing is, err?

anyway, dentists argue you should use them, and pay 400bucks to get the whitening because for one thing, they make a exact mold
of your teeth for which you use to house the bleaching agent.

well what the dentists do is they send the mold out, charging you for the fedex postage of course,
and wait to receive back the mold for you to try on.

there are places online that sell you kits, you make your mold using
this epoxy clay, send it in their shipping box, and you get back the mold.

i did it 2 yrs ago, and the whole process was fantastic.
Only cost me about 70 bucks and everything is fine.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,947
572
126


<< tcsenter: what's your take on those crest white strips? >>

They're good in the sense that the strip puts the peroxide on the tooth and reduces contact with gums. They're a little pricey, and the strength of the peroxide is rather low so that means more treatments to get the maximum effect.

For $20, at CVS Pharmacy I picked up some brand I forget which but the gel is 12% carbamide peroxide, came with mouth trays that I formed to my teeth, and there's enough gel for about 10 treatments - upper and lower.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
I've just been chewing that Arm and Hammer whitening gum and it works, although not all at once obviously. Pretty cheap, too. You can buy a lot of it for $50 it'd take to buy those Crest strips. Also it does a really good job of freshening breath cause the baking soda absorbs odors and kind of foams the ick out of your tongue. And it tastes pretty good.