Dentist mumsnetters??

[monkeytrousers]

What is the stuff they use to bleach teeth with and are some teeth immune to it?

An odd question I know, but indulge me please..

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Is it not weak amonia type stuff?
My teeth didn't go very white when I did mine for about 20 days! well pissed off I was.

I've got some 22% carbamide peroxide. Is that what you had? It doesnt seem to be working but it is irritating my toncills

How long have you been doing it for MonkeyT?

Is it the whitening products that you buy from a chemist? If so you are unlikely to get great results from this. You may have a shade change of 1,2 sometimes 3 shades, but not much more. I wouldn't have thought you would be immune to it, (in all my years of Dental Nursing (15) I haven't come across some-one who is immune to it) unless you have very heavily stained teeth. If you smoke heavily, drink alot of red wine, strong tea or coffee, these will hinder any results you may get. In this case I would contact the chemist/manufacturer (sp) & say that the product does not live upto expectations. But then, shop brought products, no matter how well they say they do, don't perform very well. If sold over the counter, the whitening agent is much much less than in those supplied by a dentist.

Are you applying it to a tray & then sitting it over your teeth? If so & it is irritating your tonsils, you may be putting too much on the tray & causing leakage, try to say upright when using, don't lie down, as this will cause any excess to go to the back of your throat & burn. The trays should never be filled to cover the back teeth (can't see them anyway, so don't need whitening) put in just enough to cover the incisors, canines & premolars, this will prevent irritation too.

The product that dentists supply, either for home whitening or in-surgery whitening, is alot more concentrated, therefore giving better results. If you have been supplied a product by a dentist, I would be inclined to go back for a review & ask why your teeth are not re-acting.

Should have said that a shade change of 1,2 or 3 won't always be visible. Some shop kits give you a shade guide to chech before & after shades.

Message withdrawn

I am quite reluctant to do it a lot of the time (often as those asking for it already have pretty good teeth and would probably be dissappointed with the results). In addition many people suffer with increased sensitivty (to hot/cold etc) after the treatment (this sometimes passes, sometimes doesn't). Also it is not a permenant solution. It varies between people depending on their oral hygiene and wether they smoke drink red wine etc, but needs to be done evey 18months to 2 years(ish) to maintain the results. Some dentists also feel that it makes the surface of the tooth more porous leading to stains being absorbed more readily.

If it is done correctly it won't damage teeth at all. It literally just whitens the enamel. I have had it done, in-surgery & all I had was sensativity for less than 24 hours. (which is not uncommon, alot of people experience sensativity)

We always recommended that patients followed a white based diet for 24 hours, avoided smoking, drinking tea, coffee, redwine etc.

I have never come across damage to teeth, sometimes if the whitening agent gets on the gum, it can feel sore for a day or so, that's all I have ever come across.

My dentist says that during the process your teeth are quite porous and quite soft so not to eat or drink anything coloured. But within 2 or 3 weeks of finishing the treatment they harden back to normal - esp. if you swish with Fluriguard.
What isn't recommended is one off 'tops up' eg once a month to 'brighten' before night outs etc on a reg. basis.

tracyk, I have never heard of teeth softening during whitening. Enamel is that hardest substance in our bodies. When I had my teeth whitened I ate hard foods almost straight away & never had any effects from it.

We used to do alot of whitening & have never come across a problem other than sensativity as a result.

Tracyk, isn't he contadicting himself there? Don't eat anything coloured, but rince with fluoriguard? Fluoriguard is bright green!

he problem is more if people insist on doing it regularly year after year, there could potential be detrimental results.

chicagomum, I do agree that long term use may well throw up problems. Many of the in-surgery products haven't been aroung long enough to determine this. I only had mine whitened as it was free & at our practice the dentist always liked it if at least 2 members of staff had had certain procedures done so we could "sell" it from a personal point of view. I couldn't afford, nor would I want to do it again tho, as my teeth aren't really that bad.

I think if anyone wants great teeth with a longer lasting result, they should look to veneers.

but crikey, veneers are ASTRONOMICAL (around £10-£20k aren't they ?!) ! I'd have mine done if I came into a BIG windfall.

depends how many veneers you have done and where you go (we charge £150-£200 a veneer) and you would only be doing 6-8 teeth top and perhaps the same at the bottom.

still a bit of a bruiser on the old wallet though. It would be the only type of cosmetic augmentation I'd consider/want

Sorry to go off on a different tangent but whilst there are dentist type mners around, could I just ask if gums grow back after receding from gum disease?

No I'm afraid they don't. The problem can be halted or slowed down but not reversed. In extreme situations it is possible to do surgery to reposition the gum line or do a graft from another area of the mouth. (if it is severe you may also have lost bone aswell so may require a bone graft or treatment to stimulate new bone in addition). Part of the healing process causes the gum to shrink a little so unless the problem is severe enough, the benefit of doing it and the end result would not be worth the discomfort and expense.

I've been doing it for a week, but not regularly. I'm trying but after a couple of days I get sore toncils. I got the stuff from ebay here . It say's it's the same stuff you get from the dentist, could you ask melissasmummy?

I will try with less but it's difficult as as soon as you put the plate in you start salivating..mmm nice.

monkeytrousers, I have done some quick cjecking and the type the dentists use is 15% hydrogen peroxide based. That often achieves 9.5 shades lighter.

According to what I read Carbamide Peroxide is just another name for hydrogen peroxide, therefore I would think that your product is

A) Possibly out of date

B) Lacking in something, somewhere

C) The advertising blurb is incorrect!

If you have any details on the packaging regarding the company you got it from, I would be inclined to take it up with them.

Throat irritation isn't uncommon with Hydrogen Peroxide.

Just caught up - sorry I didn't mean 'coloured' food - dentist said no tea, coffee, red wine or curries during and up to 4 weeks after treatment. For the whitening to work it penetrates the enamel therefore making it more porous. Fluriguard toughens the enamel back up again so helps with the sensitivity.
I didn't use fluriguard and had to give up whitening as it was so painful. dh used fluriguard and had no pain.

Is that before after or during TracyK?

but tracyk, the reason he told you to avaviod those things contracdicts him telling you to use a bright green mouthwash, surely?

Melissasmummy, this one tells you to do it for 25 mins everyday until you reach the desired effect. When you had yours done, was it just the one application?