Have you had your teeth professionally bleached?
If so, what method did you choose, how long did it take and how much did it cost? Are you happy with your results?
I'm considering getting it done when I come home for vacation, but am not sure what's all available. Any insight? (I've already used the Crest white strips, although they lightened my teeth, I would like them whiter...)
Very popular these days is the zoom whitening .....laser is used here.
I am looking into this too. Just google zoom whitening ...........
I had mine done a few years ago with Zoom, loved the results but had a terrible experience. Didn't get to finish the treatment because my teeth were so sensitive I couldn't stand it. It took about 36 hours for that sensitivity to go away, I had never had any kind of dental problems and didn't know what dental pain/sensitivity felt like. From what I understand they now do it differently, they will treat you with flouride 2 weeks prior to the procedure to minimize the sensitivity that some people get. Like I said loved the result but didn't care for the sensation.
I just googled and found a couple of 'spas' that do whitening in the area I'll be in at home. The prices were $400-$600 for the 1 hour treatment.
Does that sound right?
I'm not too sure how I am about going to anyone other than a dentist to have this done...opinions?
I couldn't find any dental offices advertising online that they do this procedure in my area...but I'm sure they must...hmmm
Here goes...if you looked at your teeth under a microscope, they would look like swiss cheese. There are many pores in the enamel and that is where the stain goes.
Any whitening system will remove the stain and you will be left with the shade that God gave you.
Zoom is expensive...and unless you plan not to eat or drink anything, your stain will buildup over time again. You will need to redo your treatments, at intervals, to keep your shade where you want it. Same with Laser treatments.
If you drink coffee or tea or smoke the staining will return much faster than if you didn't.
There are some good bleaching systems that use custom trays and gel bleach. You use them at home and if you get sensitive from the bleach, you just treat every other night instead of every night. the cycle for those is usually 7 days or 14..depending upon whether you treat every night or every other.
The up to that kind of system is that once you have the tray all you need is to buy gel syringes to retreat yourself. Probably much less than if you had to pay for Laser or Zoom.
We had samples of the whitening strips..if we could get them to stay on our teeth, they would bleach..but they are no where near the strength of the others.
Hope this helps.
PS...go to a dentist for this stuff...the over the counter systems are costly and the trays are not made to fit like the ones from a professional.
You do not want the bleach to rest on your gum tissue..the custom trays are made to order..fit your mouth only and usually contour around the teeth so that bleach does not touch the gums.
Everything Ihatefondont has said is on the money. When I did mine I did the take home kit with costum trays.
In my opionion the take home kit with costom trays--it more value for you dollar. Most will include enough bleach to do your two weeks and enough to do touch up. Then to purchase more tubes of bleach in the future it really gets pretty reasonable.
The other thing I would think about is sometimes some people have a hard time doing the two times a day for 30 minutes for two week session. Then that is when the Zoom or Britesmile(light that is used in your dental) is a good option. Because your done in about two hours. My dentist does include the trays for home touch up with the Zoom procedure. So it may be something to ask your dentist about if you go this route.
Mara
Oh! Thanks guys! I didn't see that anyone else had responded to this.
I can't find any dentists listed in my area that do the trays...what should I be looking for? Is there a website that lists them?
I called my dentist and he uses brightsmile...but didn't give me a price saying we'd discuss my options when I get my cleaning in 2 weeks. Grr.
From my net searches, it looks like Brightsmile or Zoom cost about $400-600...is that right?
How much do the trays cost and where can I find a dentist that makes/uses them in my area?
We offer Zoom in our office (Canada) for $700.00, it take 3 sessions of 15 minutes with the Zoom light, and then the reapplication time and etc. the appointment can take up to 1 1/2 - 2 hours. We also send the people home with bleaching trays (Custom Trays) and touch up bleach. This comes with the Zoom Kit , it is included in the $700.00.
I "Zoomed" both my daughters teeth ages= 22, and 19. just for the practice when we got the Zoom in the office. Both had sensitive teeth after, and took a few days to settle down. The beautiful white results were worth it..They just took advil (ibuprofin) for a few days. Sensodyne toothpaste also works. You cannot use colored toothpaste immediately either.
I think if you find the Zoom website they may direct you to a dentist that does it.
You get a better result with Zoom than any other method offered at theis time. You just have to weigh out the pro's and con's.
I also have Zoomed patients teeth and they haven't had much sensitivity, so everybody is different.
Also, if they do become sensitive, a little neutral fluoride in the bleaching trays for a few minutes helps too.
Good Luck,
Hi Chanda!
I would not recommed Zoom! Way too many negs. not enough pos.
Our office sells strips that are stronger than the ones sold @ the store. They have had great results. No appt. needed to buy them either. The custom trays are the best way to go in my op. That way in a year or so you can just take out the tray's for touch up's. We sell touch up kits, like most offices do. You don't need to find the best DDS to do the impressions for bleaching, just find the closest, cheapest, as all the trays are made the same way. They may all use diffiernt solutions of gel or name brands, but I've tried many of them (samples sent to office) all about the same. If your teeth are senstive, skip a day before you do it again. Also helps sensitivity if you DON"T brush before you put the trays in. Sounds weird, but works!
You will def. look American in Germany with pearly whites 
Just before Christmas I ordered Crest Whitestrips (premium plus) from Drugstore.com. They've rec'd good reviews from users, so thought I'd give it a try. Only paid $30 for the kit and did notice a drastic change in my tooth color. It's recommended to repeat in 18 months. These are easy to use and only somewhat of a nuisance to mess with. It was well worth the trouble. It takes about 10 days to get through the treatment if I'm remembering right.
I don't have teeth as white as I'd have with the zoom treatment, but my teeth look nice and that's really all I was after. 
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