Anyone had teeth whitening? And felt it was worth it?

[Maxxxie]

Looking around locally,, seems to be around £150

Does it actually make a visible difference?

Not for me unfortunately. I had invisalign and the whitening was included in the price. I used the invisalign trays and a bleaching gel which came in a syringe. Followed all instructions. My teeth have weird transparent enamel so I just ended up with tiny white patches and mostly no change.

I've done it through my dentist and it's been a massive mistake. The bleach has made my teeth so painful (I think it's damaged my gums). I haven't done it for mouths and I'm still in significant pain.

I paid about £300 for the trays and gel through my dentist and it has been amazing, so much more efficient than whitening strips or anything

I think I paid £400 last year but that included an appointment at the end of the treatment.

It did work but towards the end was soo painful! I have some very sensitive teeth and it was really sore - woke me up at night so I had to take painkillers.

Returnoftheowl- I’m really sorry to hear that. I hope the pain eases.

My price included the trays and 4 sets of gel tubes (private dentist). I only used 2 at first. I recently did a top up but after a few days it just hurt too much. £150 sounds very cheap.

I had it as part of my Invisalign treatment . It did make a small difference but not as much as i had hoped .

I did it before and my teeth were better but started to hurt after a while.

I did it years ago (about 10!) and my teeth are still improved to this day. They were very sensitive after but it was worth it because my teeth were quite yellow. Now I only need a couple of days of brushing with whitening toothpaste to get them back to looking good.

I had mine done years ago. My dentist provided the trays and gel. Well worth it. I wouldn't try any of the cheap options because if the enamel suffers damage, it could be permanent, painful and unsightly,

Yes ! Mine changed about ten shades ! Even the dentist was amazed and they weren't that bad to start with tbh!

Yes! I have really bad flurosis with huge brown stains in my teeth. I've been doing enlighten through my dentist and the change has been amazing

I've just finished this with stuff I had from the dentist
Was about £320 with a hygiene clean , moulds done , trays and 4 syringes
Slight sensitivity , not painful at all
Noticeable difference
One syringe left , going to keep this to see when I might need a top up , dentist said maybe 6 months , friend of mine does one night a month to keep them bright
Def worth it for me

I paid £700 for Enlighten whitening from the dentist. It was unbearably painful. I stopped halfway through and I still have pain six months later.

It depends also on the brand of whitening that is used and whether it’s in-surgery or at-home whitening.
Generally the at-home ones will cause less severe sensitivity, I’ve heard zoom gel is better than polar night/day, also boutique is meant to be quite good. But enlighten is high end I’m very surprised to hear pp say it caused so much pain.
I’ve done it several times. Love it. Never had my patients tell me sensitivity has been long term but it is a potential - though I would have thought hypothetical- risk.

I did enlighten with my dentist 4 years ago and still going strong doing the v occasional top up with the gel that I wear overnight in the mouthpiece every now and again. It cost £400 for the course, had some slight sensitivity on week 2 wouldn't call it pain was just discomfort really with extreme hot or cold, but quickly leaves.

Really happy with it. Then had one more top up syringes of gel think that was maybe £50 odd, still got in the fridge only use a teeny bit. So happy with it overall.

I did had mine done after orthodontic treatment and it really made a difference.

For anyone who has the trays and just needs to buy the gel, my orthodontist used poladay or polanight. Really effective, no sensitivity and you can buy 2 syringes for about £20 online although if its your 1st time whitening you'll need more. Enough as a top up though.

did this ever resolve?

It's improved, I'm not in the agony I was at the time of originally posting. My team are really sensitive to temperature changes since the whitening, so the winter is it more of a problem (coming in from the cold outside into a warm house). It's still painful at times and I regret it, but I'm no longer in the constant pain I was for the 18+ months after I had it done.

Thank you for the reply! So sorry this has happened to you… can I ask you if you remember which type of whitening they did? Did they give you any explanation of why this happened? And if they’ve tried to add something like a composite layer to shield the tooth to relief the sensitivity? Sorry for all the questions, I am experiencing severe sensitivity 2 months post whitening and regretting it so much, but also upset because I don’t think the risks are spoken enough

Did the pain go away eventually?

My experience exactly, was a big expensive mistake

I can't remember the brand name unfortunately. My dentist was very sympathetic, but could not really explain it beyond "just one of those things".
They didn't offer anything like a composite layer, but I'd made it quite clear I was never putting the whitening stuff back in my mouth in any circumstances so possibly they would have offered if I'd been willing to continue.

I agree in that I don't think the risks are spoken about enough. I had no idea this could happen, I just thought it was an easy, risk-free treatment that loads of people had done without any issue. I hadn't realised how sensitive it would make me teeth - my main memory of that time was coming home from chilly dog walks and ending up sobbing in my bathroom over the pain in my teeth each time.