Has anyone had whiten their teeth at dentist office?

does the whitening compound keep your teeth white for whole year?

any side effects?
I want to get my teeth whiten like Hollywood celebrity.

Nope, mine are battleship grey forever...

I had my done, but it's been some years. My dentist told me that after about 6 months, I should get another application.

I have a question. Is the stuff you can buy at the store any better?

You might try some baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I don;t know if the stuff at the store is any better, but my question is: Is the store any better than the dentist's office?

Baking soda is a bad idea. It whitens teeth, but it does so by stripping away the enamel. This weakens your teeth, leaving them prone to cavities and other mouth horrors.

I don’t know whether the dentist-applied treatment does the same thing or not, but one side effect of the over-the-counter whitening products is that your teeth end up glowing green under nightclub blacklights. (Always made me snicker to see people’s green smiles at those places. )

Contemplating tweaking the look of my teeth I asked my dentist about professional whitening. She said she could do it but didn't recommend it in my case.

I have tetracycline staining, my teeth glow a nice yellow under black lights, and hyperplasia. My teeth have a slight yellow tinge that the bleaching won't touch and are a bit softer and subject to chipping because their grain is not straight. A developmental issue. Peroxide bleaching tends to weaken teeth. It isn't so much that people with normal teeth have to worry about but the dentist pointed out that I wouldn't see much actual whitening and I need to hang onto all the structural integrity I can.

She recommended that if I wanted prettier teeth to avoid chemical whitening and go directly to veneers. After she told me what they cost, per tooth, I declined. I was glad I was sitting at the time.

She told me that my teeth are strong and, outside cosmetic coloration, in good condition for my age. Which I figure is good enough.

In a survival context it is pretty important that you keep your teeth in good shape if not as pretty as they might be. There are real and important health consequences for poorly maintained teeth. Heart conditions have been partially linked to an increased risk of infected or inflamed gums. And you don't want to get into an emergency situation with a bad tooth that distracts you, doesn't allow you to sleep when you need to or makes eating a problem.

With many toothpastes now containing baking soda, I doubt what you say. Maybe in too much concentration? Many backpackers take only baking soda on short trips and seem fine, esp since the tip came from their dental assistant. If you know of references to the contrary, please post.

I had the professional whitening treatment several years ago, and I think it cost about $600. In addition I was given some additional "stuff" to apply to my teeth for another month to further the whitening process. Also, there is a maintenance chemical to help preserve the whiteness. The process works OK, but not to the degree I was hoping for. The older and more stained your teeth are the less dramatic the effect. Besides I am not willing to give up coffee and tea to preserve the appearance. Guess a handsome old coot like me has to have some flaw!

I feel kind of silly about this, but the only source I have for this information is my mother. She just told me to never brush with baking soda, that it wears away the enamel. I've never questioned it, and posted without double-checking the information.

I just did a quick Google search, and couldn't come up with anything other than anecdotal evidence. I did come across a number of sites on the conspiracy of fluoride , but none on the dangers of baking soda. I'm just going to have to wait until my next dental appointment to get a definitive answer.

I apologize for misleading anyone with information I didn't check.

Save your money; you can have a hollywood smile for a few dollars. Use mcleans whitening toothpaste, drop the tea and coffee and you'll see the difference start in just a few days. Brush at least twice a day for 3 minutes and don't rinse afterwards or drink for a few hours.
The Sock

I don't know about baking soda but the consumer organisation here in the UK did tests on all the whitening toothpastes and none of them harmed the teeth.
The Sock

I think all toothpastes are, to some degree, abrasive. Water will, over time, wear down stone.

The question is: Exactly how abrasive does a toothpaste need to be to remove crud from teeth? How abrasive can you afford for it to be before it dangerously thins the enamel within the expected lifetime of a user using it at expected rates?

From what I understand most early toothpastes contained pumice. Pumice if it is too course or too frequently used sometimes removed too much enamel. Some were too abrasive. This was back in the 70s.

As I understand it none of the major brands of toothpastes are too abrasive given average use rates and normally tough teeth. Of those toothpastes ones with baking soda, because it is a softer material, were generally a little less abrasive.

I can say that the OTC bleaching agents can damage the gums if used incorrectly or too often. Destroy your gums and your newly whitened teeth fall out. I guess you could wear them as a nice necklace.