Teeth whitening - Do I have to rip my teeth out?

[MulesToJules]

I've been doing a bit of Googling and from what I can gather, the only way to get results like a pearly white smile is to actually get veneers!

I thought a dentist could just change their colour for you (for a price). But apparently this doesn't always work?

I just want a brilliantly white smile. I have good teeth and people tell me they're 'white' but I want a flawless smile.

Would I have to actually get my teeth removed?

Depends how much you want to throw at it. With veneers they file your existing teeth down so you are then in a lifelong cycle of having to have them forever. My mum had them 15 years ago and while they still look good, as she has aged, her face has shrunk and now she has these big mad looking horse teeth. Plus they're not cheap.

If your teeth are in good shape already, would you consider a combination of Invisalign and whitening, so your natural teeth are as good as can be?

Healthy white teeth look great and youthful. Veneers I think often look a bit tombstone-y. I'd always go with the natural approach personally, even if they are dazzling white it's nice to have your own teeth.

Forgot to say that the best result for whitening you'll get is by having your dentist make up trays for you which you wear for a few hours at a time with the whitening gel in. There's no reason you can't go as white as you want.

I had good results with zoom but it hurt like hell and didn't last long, crest pro white strips were also really good.

Placemarking for this as I'd love to have my teeth a couple of shades lighter.
But not through veneers.

If you want more ‘perfect’ looking teeth, you need whitening and composite bonding. Take a look on Instagram and you’ll be amazed at what can be done. Cheaper than veneers too, and no tooth is removed.

By the way, I’ve had mine whitened. They are whiter than they were but still quite yellow. I had the expensive whitening too! To be fair, I have some enamel erosion which affects the colour, but none of my friends who’ve had whitening have gone as light as they had hoped. Perhaps we are unlucky though.

Whitening also improved my rather dingy teeth quite a bit but they will never be dazzling white just by bleaching.
(In fact, I wouldn't really want dazzling ice white as I don't think it looks natural.)
But it'd still like them to look whiter than they do. I will look into the 'composite bonding' mentioned above.

I whitened my teeth suing a source of about 6 sessions at my dentist, which gave brilliant results, naturally white and I lost my two more yellow than the rest of my teeth fangs. The last session left me extremely sore for a few days which has put me off.

That was 10 years ago and I could do with a boost again

The reason why I had it done at my dentist was he refused to send me home with it, so it took all morning. He said people either put in on for too long or not long enough, so he would mix it up and apply it when I'd come in and then walk round town while it did it's work.

Made shopping tricky with foaming mouth and gum shields in and of course I couldn't eat or drink at the same tome, so I prefer the idea of doing it at home really.

I’ve just finished Invisalign and my dentist gave me some trays and a whitening gel that I can use at home. It’s only been a week and I’m so impressed with the results already.

Veneers dont remove your teeth, they just shave some of your tooth off and stick some porcelain/composite on the top. Like false nails for your teeth

Removing your teeth and replacing with false is dentures.

Whitening will make them whiter, but it's not going to make them white white, just natural tooth white. Invisalign or some type of orthodontics, like lingual braces could straighten them.

You could get a combination of whitening, invisalign and composite build ups to give a perfect look. I would avoid veneers unless they are no-prep as they can be damaging.

No teeth are perfectly white or straight, there's no point doing something damaging to your teeth to make them look better. Once you prep teeth that's it, you have taken them one step closer to coming out, they will need replacing and everytime you replace them more tooth comes off etc. Etc.

I wouldn't have veneers but my tooth colour bothered me and I also had some wear on a lower tooth which was annoying, dentist said abrasion cavities?
Anyway had zoom whitening and also some composite bonding plus I am whitening at home and really happy with them