Cosmetic Dentistry - Has anybody had professional whitening or veneers?

[MascaraOHara]

My dentist seems very against off the shelf whitening products because they damage in the long term.

I'm seriously considering professional whitening? has anybody had this done, are you pleased or is it a horror story?

would you recommend it?

My teeth aren't really bad but they aren't white.. my dentist refuses on the basis that they are a 'natural' colour and they shouldn't be white.. I'm not saying I want them bright white but I would like them less cream iykwim.

it's not noticable to others so it's would be purely for myself.

and yes I probably am weird and shallow but I have a thing about nice teeth. I'm so of people with lovely white straight teeth.

Yes, I'd definitely rather keep my own teeth iykwim.

The other reason I'd have to have al ong think is that I've never had any problems with my teeth, not even fillings.. I would worry that I'd have something done for the sake of vanity and end up damaging my teeth/mouth in some way..

That invislign sounds interesting, I think I will look into that further.

Is it a one off treatment?

i had two veneers on my top front teeth - they were very crooked and one was broken. i wouldn't bother just for whitening - i was going to go for both, but decided against it because the others would have gone yellow again and not matched the veneers.

dentist didn't tell me about 10-15 year life .

would consider invisalign if i hadn't spent two years in train tracks as a teenager only for them to go crooked again after a couple of years.

Invisalign takes months to years to get the teeth straightened - depends on how crooked they are and they aren't suitable for all cases. Once they're straight you will need to wear a retainer as there is a danger the teeth can start trying to move back to their original positions. My dentist has said I will need to wear retainers overnight for a while, to stop this happening, and then gradually tail them off. TBH the Invisalign braces are so little problem to wear, it wouldn't bother me if I had to wear them overnight forever to keep them straight.

Sorry if I've caused alarm by saying that veneers last 10-15 years - I was told that is an average and they can last longer { I think one dentist said possibly up to 20 years if looked after well } but I am no expert so may not have got this right.

WineTime - I knew they had a limited life and I can't remember where I got 30yrs from.

I had mine done professionally, at a cost of £550. It was agony, had to eat white food for 4 days afterwards (cauliflower and mash yum yum).

It lasted precisely 5 days - by my maths, that's £110 a day. Never again.

Britesmile, btw.

Interesting to hear the other side RambleOn.. Was it supposed to be a permanent tratement?

yuk to havign to eat white foods - why? is it because your teeth would be extra sensitive to stains?

Yes, was supposed to be permanent.

The outside layer of your teeth is removed (pellicle?), and then they're bleached. The layer regrows over 4 days, so you can't stain your teeth until that has regrown iyswim.

No tea/coffee/wine - oh the trauma

no coffee for 4 days?

omg - i couldnt do it

Winetime have you completed your invisalign and are you happy? I had a consultation at the dentist yesterday and they are putting me a quote together. Have a slight problem thought due to root canal filling in front teeth which has greyed.