Teeth Whitening Tips

[Pikefootedachilles]

Just as the title says.

My teeth are discoloured due to years of tea, coffee, and other stuff.

Has anyone tackled this effectively without spending an absolute fortune.

I don’t want to look like I’ve just got back from Turkey. I just want my normal teeth to look white.

Or am I being unreasonable, and should get my hand in my pocket and pay for a proper solution?

Great post OP I’ll be keeping track!

spend a few hundred and use your dentist.
anything else is either unsafe or won't get the results you want. you only have 1 set of teeth

Start with a really good clean and polish at your dentist, which you should be getting every six months anyway.

Then immediately start using a whitening toothpaste such as Colgate Optic White several times a day, with an electric toothbrush set to the whitening setting. Make sure you cut out tea and coffee for at least a week while you are doing it.

You should achieve some pretty good results with that alone. I have tried that routine and also a professional teeth whitening session. The professional session was slightly better, but didn't last for very long. Whereas my current routine, which I do for a week every month or so, keeps my teeth looking really white pretty much all of the time.

A dentist in the family told me to try this.

Once every couple of weeks you can use 3% hydrogen peroxide as a gargle.
I have some in a spray bottle and spray some in my mouth as I step in the shower.
I squish it all around for a while then spit out and brush my teeth afterwards.
Seems to work a treat.

Yes go to your dentist and get it done properly. All the home made treatments are very abrasive and damaging to your teeth and/or gums, and the imported whitening strips aren’t any good for serious whitening. I tried quite a few things (all touted as the best whitening ever) like the toothpastes and mouthwashes that made no noticeable difference before I gave up and went to the dentist and I was really surprised and pleased with the results from the dentist- you pick how white you go, you won’t end up with Turkey teeth. Now my base colour isn’t yellow, whitening toothpaste works as maintenance.

Mine are pearl white but they are dentures.
Lost all my teeth before i was 38.

As a dentist I use Sensodyne clinical whitening. It’s expensive but you can buy it from Amazon half price. My DSis and I are both dentists and were given samples when they first released it. We both noticed the difference within a couple of months. It doesn’t actually whiten your teeth but is an effective stain remover.

For actual whitening you need a professional system. Surgery whitening , a 40min application is often not long lasting. The strength of the gel used is no greater than the home systems which you use daily for a week or more. They use a fancy light but it’s all a bit smoke and mirrors because it just dehydrates the enamel and it does look very white initially but within 24 hrs the enamel rehydrates and darkens.
I use a 6% peroxide gel applied using trsys and prefer the daytime application because you only leave it in for 60-90 minutes. You can then gradually lighten the teeth until you reach the shade you want. I have a light natural shade so just use it to remove stain.
Before using the system you need a good clean to remove stain before applying gel.

I have also found that sonic electric toothbrushes are more effective at keeping stain from building up. My go to brushes are Phillips sonicare or Curaprox sonic brush. They are expensive but have good battery lives.
There are plenty of cheap electric toothbrushes brushes on the market but you get what you pay for.We are given a lot of freebies to trial but having given my DS 21 a Curaprox brush he loves it and uses it religiously and keeps it charged ( unlike his phone). I tend to use him as a guinea pig because he is like most youngster a bit picky.

If he wasn’t impressed it would likely live in a drawer. It’s quite handy having two because if one needs charging we just change the heads.
I sometimes use a manual brush and find Curaprox ultra soft is an excellent brush because it is made of polyester fibres which don’t absorb water so don’t splay. They can last 6 months and have about 5 x the number of filaments so really clean. They make except jewelry cleaning brushes.

Thanks all. I’m going to consult with my dentist first and get a clean / spruce up so I know what we’re dealing with. I think I’ll avoid the off the shelf products unless the dentist options are prohibitively expensive, but some good tips for day to day steps to improve the situation.

Any recommendations for a whitening toothpaste without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it?

I saw the hygienist at the dentist last week and she offered me a whitening treatment for £20 extra. I had no idea what to expect but she basically blasted my teeth with sand. Do the dentists on this post rate this? I honestly couldn't se3xany difference and was disappointed.

@Crwysmam what brand of 6% gel do you use? I've had my teeth whitened with Enlighten at the dentist but the they only supply the 16% carbamide for top ups and you have to leave it in overnight which I don't like

The "sand blasting" just removes stains, it isn't an actual whitening treatment.

There are a number of brands that do a daytime gel, off hand I can’t remember the brand we use. We now purchase the complete kits from the technician because the shelf life for the gel is relatively short so keep in stock for what is often a seasonal treatment results in having to bin the gel when it’s out of date.
Maybe shop around. It’s a private treatment and you may find another dental surgery that stocks the daytime products.

Sensodyne do a number of toothpastes without SLS. Their clinical whitening does contain it but crucially it doesn’t contain the polymer that sticks it to your teeth and gums for hours. I have no problem with it despite having an allergy to SLS. If you avoid the toothpastes that are 12hr or Total toothpastes they are less likely to cause a reaction.

Pearl drops toothpaste is the only thing I have found to make a real difference. I had whitening treatment free with Invisalign, i didn't see a difference with that and have tried all sorts of toothpastes that claim to whiten.

Thank you @Crwysmam. I had the 6% Boutique daytime whitening from the dentist and hoping to maintain it.

Just arm and hammer advanced whitening toothpaste. It's pretty cheap at Savers.