Pearly Whites
 

:D Anyone ever whitened their teeth? I am currently trying the Opalescence system from my dentist, and am not impressed. For $340 (170 per arch) I had to get molds done, then nightly fill them with this vile melon tasting 'bleach' and wear them overnight. So far, after 3 nights I am seeing a general lightness, but mostly in blotches. And this morning the forwarned "sensitivity" has set in. Try downright annoying pain. Just sitting here, my lower teeth are just kind of throbbing. Like, when a tooth dries out, and air hits it and you get this little jolt, only slightly less jolting and continuous. Why, you ask would I do this silly thing? Well, because I was feeling a little mousy even after losing all of the baby weight, and a boob job was a little too pricey. :rolleyes:

My dentist doesn't much go in for that stuff, but he has said it was okay to use the home kit from Crest ... the strips, I think. However, he would only go so far as to say "many people think they work well" and "they won't hurt you."

I tried the Crest Whitestrips and they worked to a point. There is a procedure you can get in the office that takes about an hour and is supposed to really work, but I forget what it's called....

cleaning?

These days you can get bonding in any shade of white, that completely and perfectly changes the shade of your teeth. To preview what it might look like, watch any TV news anchor. You can bet that every single one of them has had this procedure. For fun, spot the ones who are new/not so wealthy and look for different shades on their tops and bottoms.

Many Indians get this done in too-light shades of white... apparently it is a cultural thing.

It's about half the price of a boob job I think, but a boob job is a ridiculous medical procedure.

Is it bad for your teeth though..?

That kind of bonding is just a thin porcelain "veneer" - I think the dentist removes the enamel from your teeth and replaces it with this porcelain, permanently. It's not bad for your teeth - it's like replacement teeth covers.

My ex-wife had this done, because she was obsessive-compulsive about her looks. I do not think she feels any better about herself because if you are OCD there is always some flaw to address. At the time it cost about $5000 but she used an expensive dentist.

In the words of Christina Aguilera: 'You are beautiful, no matter what they say...'

Stop changing things! You're fine as you are!

And don't tell me you're doing it for 'yourself' because that's bollocks. Stop pandering to the unrealistic demands of Photoshop7!

So it's like owning a set of china... for your teeth?

-- from http://www.mercola.com/2003/mar/12/teeth_whiteners.htm

Coming from a woman who has more plastic in her body than I have in all my computers...

I use rembrandt whitening toothpaste- the one sold for "heavily stained teeth", and I drink red wine, coffee every day and smoke cigarettes- and I get compliments on how white my teeth are. I also sometimes use their whitening kit that comes with 4 or 5 little tubes of toothpaste.
You can kind of see my teeth in this pic.

I have a question... Why is it that most of the time I cannot see pictures, it just says "Attached Images" over an empty box? I don't know how to fix this. Please tell me if you know! Thanks!

What browser and what firewall?

WHO I am doing this for is not the point. There are other threads for pissing matches about the unrealistic expectations placed on today's youth. This one is about whitening your teeth.

In my dentist's defense, she suggested I start using Sensodyne toothpaste before and during the procedure, and rinse with ACT right after taking out my arches to reduce chances of getting sensitive teeth. But did I listen, of course not. :headshake Duh. A couple of ibuprofin took care of the prob, and I didn't use the stuff last night. My labbies do notice a difference however, and I told them to tell me if I'm starting to get too white, once I start using it again. :cool:

Sorry, I just find it odd that someone would want to alter their appearance without knowing why, or even questioning that want. You're doing it to make you happier, ultimately, right? Well what if you could be happier without whitening your teeth! I see no difference between this and make-up, or this and liposuction. Pointless, often dangerous and most of the time it doesn't actually make you look any better (like a 20 stoner wearing fake tan, if you see what I mean). Not trying to judge you just help by pointing out the obvious.

poke poke poke
 

people sometimes treat themselves to certain luxuries, and don't particularly need a reason. Why do you cut your hair? shouldn't people accept your hair the way it is? Why make your clothes match? Why eat filet mignon when chipped beef has the same nutritional content? why do anything?

steadfastly refusing to change one's appearance EVER just because it might conflict with feminist doctrine just means there will be a lot of braless women with bad teeth and no makeup running around. if i wanted to see that, i'd go to england.



JUST KIDDING



i mean i'd go to more Phish shows.

I know why I want to do it, and even stated that fact in the initial post. So what if something else could make me happy? I would do that too if I felt like it. What I do to make me happy is my business, be it having liposuction, :3some: , doing yoga, or painting my house chartruse. How do you know whether or not I questioned WHY I wanted to do this? Or how long I thought about it? Or about other options? :confused: Didn't think so. Than please do not make assumptions about ME. I don't care if YOU (or anyone for that matter) think it makes me look better, I care about if it makes me feel better. It may be silly to you, but I probably think what you do for yourself for the purpose of pleasure is silly. What are you trying to point out that's so obvious? What is obvious to me is that because you think it's silly, it must be wrong to do. And your judging me on that makes me REALLY not care what you think. :eyebrow:

:biggrin: Yeah, what noodle dude said...

Hear hear! :thumb:

i had to cut mine because prospective employers wouldn't accept it the way it was. but i mean, you know. :sigh:

Your point is well taken in some instances (when self-esteem is affected) but in my case, its a matter of perspective. My front teeth do not look good but I don't feel badly about myself as a consequence, I would just prefer if they didn't look the way they do. I have decided to have them all capped at the end of this year.

Similarly, I have the metabolism of a squirrel on crack and I'm pretty thin as a consequence. So, I spend a lot of time in the gym trying to add some beef - I miss one week in the gym and I lose 5 pounds - seriously. While I can change my appearance by working out, there is nothing I can do through my own effort to improve the way my teeth look. Its ok not to be happy with how you look so long as it doesn't diminish your estimation of your self-worth.

However, getting back to your original point, a lot of people, especially young women in Western society, could benefit from having your attitude. I think many people are disappointed when, after having augmentation of one sort or another return to their former self-assessment shortly after the glow of the change subsides. It has to start from the inside.

Back to the teeth whitening thing... My oral hygienist told me to never use any of the over the counter whitening products. She says they're fine for your teeth, but the gel/solution can burn your gums if you use it too much. Then she offered me the $1,500 whitening treatment they do in the office with ultra-violet light or a laser or something. She may have just been trying to sell me something. Who knows? Man, I hate that. :mad2:

Now I am kinda internet confused... I know I use McAfee Firewall, but I'm not sure what browser I use. The program I use to pull up the internet is Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Earthlink is my Service provider. I'm not really sure what else I use...

Internet Explorer is your browser. I just wondered if there was something in that which gave a clue as to why you can't see images... don't know why it is then, what happens if you click this?

http://cellar.org/attachment.php?att...tid=5767&stc=1

On a slight aside, I have noticed something odd that occurs quite regularly on message boards, and in every day conversation. For example, I say something like this:

And the respondant replies with something like this:

A particular word (in this case 'judge') enters the reader's (or listener's) consciousness and it comes up again, as if it's being released, at a later occasion. This doesn't annoy me it's quite fascinating and can be used to manipulate people by dropping words into their mouths.

Anyway, back to the point.

then don't post it up on a message board.

Er - your first sentence. It's wrong. If you were living on a desert island with no other human being and only survival to consider, you wouldn't be whitening your teeth. Cleaning them - yes. Not whitening. So it must be for other people, or how you appear to other people. You're not doing it for yourself, do you understand? You will feel better for three weeks, find you're still dissatisfied with your appearance and want to change something else, and so on. I know you can't see it now, but it's true. And you know what? I'm not saying this to be right, or clever. I actually care about you. I don't know you. I might not even like you if I met you (and vice versa) but I do care about you because ultimately you are another human being the same as me and I hate to see unhappiness when there's no need for it. For someone to want to change something they cannot be happy with the way things are, or they wouldn't want to change it! I'm trying to get the message across that you're OK right now, everyone, stop being upset or disillusioned or disappointed or stubborn.

:thumbsup:

Er, quite.

Nothing to do with feminism, same goes for men and those bloody male manicures and back waxes. I love a hairy dirty man. Oh yes, and naturally, women are braless with bad teeth and no make-up. You want FAKE.

Cat, advice and caring is always good. Just one question then... are YOU happy? Because you don't seem too happy and I should think it would be bad practice to take advice about how to be happy from the sad.

Beethoven was deaf, plumbers houses leak, Hitler was a vegetarian, and most marketers can't market themselves.

If my advice is wrong then judge it to be wrong on it's own merits, not because it's me saying it.

too too much!

should be less than $500. I had it done that way. it was extremely uncomfortable for about 1 hour, but when i left. my teeth were noticably whiter.

the problem with the strips is that they only do the surface of your teeth. teeth are translucent. and they have ridges and bumps and stuff.

the mouth piece solution is cheaper, and once you have the molds, you can always re-do it at home after the stains come back.

[quote=Catwoman]You're not doing it for yourself, do you understand? You will feel better for three weeks, find you're still dissatisfied with your appearance and want to change something else, and so on.

:smack: :rollanim: :crazy: :bonk: :smashfrea :banghead:

This thread is about anyones experience WHITENING YOUR TEETH. Not why I am, or how the f*ck I'll feel afterward. Tooth sensitivity aside.

I dunno why this annoys me so much, and I swear to GOD(S), if anyone says because deep down I really have low self esteem or some other BS I'll lose it. I am looking to hear peoples experiences with tooth whitening, not their :2cents: about my inner self. (happy stacey? :) )

Thank you to those who added theirs, and Chainsaw, when I originally asked my current dentist about tooth whitening 2 checkups ago, (1 yr ago) she said for the same effect due to the same basic ingredient Crest's products would do just the same thing as what she had to sell. It would just take longer because the concentration of bleach is lower. I overall got the impression she was saying, do those first and see if you like the results. If they're not white enough, I'll see what I can do.

When I used whitening toothpaste, it really burned my tongue and basically took the top layer of skin off of my lips and inside my mouth. I had to quit after just a week due to the soreness of my mouth. I went with the professional system because they made a mold so that the bleach just stays on your teeth, not anywhere else.

This is also why I went with the Docs system. I can buy the SAME gel I'm using now separately for touchups down the road, as long as my kid doesn't destroy my molds :lol:

you're missing the point.

the point labrat was trying to make was that she wants to have group sex.
duh


oh, and also that she wasn;t looking for you to get all deep and philosophical about the motivations of why people care about their own looks. she wanted feedback about her teeth. you're derailing the thread by calling her shallow. and sounding stoned and pompous at the same time....which is tricky for most people. kudos!

No, clean. And with self respect comes the desire to put one's best self forward. If someone wants purty teef, I say more power to em. And although it pains me to say it, same goes for back waxes.

which reminds me of a story, which i may have shared before. I knew a guy who was a volunteer wildnerness firefighter who is the singlemost hairy specimen of humanity ever born. About 5'8", 300lbs of muscle, no neck -- you've seen the type. Well, after a forest fire a few years ago, he was one of the first ones to the makeshift shower set up in a meadow near the site. He stripped down and went to clean off, not realizing that someone (who was apparently unaware that there more people nearby) was watching him. That person called in a Bigfoot sighting. I'm not making this up. He's that hairy. [/sidetrack]

anyway. Catwoman, where do you draw the line between simply having enough pride to try to look your best and falling into this "mass media tells me to look a certain way, and I'm too spineless to resist" scenario? For me, that line is cosmetic surgery (not to repair a defect, but because 'my lips aren't poofy enough', etc.).

eek. i'm contributing to the derailing. sorry, going back on track. Anyway, these bleaching products sound iffy to me. If your teeth aren't sparkly clean to begin with, you'll just have white plaque, which is nasty. I say go the professional route -- get a full cleaning combined with the stain removal.

Perhaps Catwoman finds everyone other than herself, particularly Americans, shallow and venal, and no amount of evidence to the contrary will shift her. Oh so sorry we can't be as perfect and pure in our motivations as you.

I'm gonna stop wearing deodorant. People should love me for who I am, stink and all.

I get up every morning and shower, shave, wash my face, pick out nice clothes and top it all off with just a little bit of cologne. And I'm thinking about having my teeth whitened. I do it because people do have a perception of me, and I want that preception to be "he takes care of himself". People having that perception of me makes me happy. LabRat, I suspect, feels the same (but make the he a she). It may be vanity, but I enjoy witnessing that transformation every morning. I like looking at myself and thinking that I clean up nicely. Now if only I could drop that last 20 pounds. Anyone tried liposuction?!

Didn't mean to annoy you. My experience of white teeth involves not smoking and brushing twice a day. Hope this helps. :)

Some of us need it. I'm not saying I couldn't have kept them white to begin with, but how am I going to enjoy my coffee unless I can follow it with a cigarette? :D

Oh no I'm quite shallow and venal. And I'm not so much perfect as.... wabi. Motivations? Not really. Actually I'm lazy, impolite and overly sure of myself. But I am right.

(Oooh isn't that annoying?) :rar:

Oh, right Catwoman's from the UK! :D

I find tooth whitening foreign enough, and I'm from the nation of pearly whites!

I do use tooth-whitening toothpaste, but that's just because Crest only makes the vanilla flavored toothpaste only with whitening.

I use the same stuff. Best toothpaste ever.

:yum:

I like the cinnamon stuff from the same product line. The Orange flavored stuff was, well, different to say the least.

I just got a tube of Colgate's Herbal Freshness or whatever, mostly because it was a buck cheaper than everything else on the shelf.

I've kind of adapted to it now, a couple of brushings into the tube, but it was rough going at the outset. Anybody else get an uncontrollable urge to retch when they first start brushing sometimes?

I think it's a vague attempt to compete with the Tom's of Maine market (anything with Herbal on it has got to be better for you, right?) but contains all the nice chemicals to actually whiten your teeth and freshen your breath for a brief period of time. We would probably be just as well off if we went back to chewing on a twig and using the frayed ends to scrape the gunk off our teeth.

I did do the Tom's of Maine thing for a while, Cinnamint was pretty good, but I prefer to have my mouth feeling artificially fresher longer, and for less $$.

My grandmother, God rest her soul, was allergic to toothpaste - it made her mouth break out in a rash every time. So she used baking soda and salt to brush her teeth. I never knew her to have a cavity, either.

I had a stretch of about (insert length of time too embarrasing to note here, although I probably posted it somewhere else) years where I didn't go to the dentist.

At all.

I broke a tooth and HAD to go see him a couple years ago. He thought that over that time I'd just gone to another dentist.

While he had me trapped in the chair, he did an exam, xrays, and cleaning ... I had two cavities.

Two.

Since then he has made a point of scheduling me 6 months in advance ... he knows that if it's on my calendar, I'll show up.

One of my best friends uses the Tom's stuff, and her teeth look great, but her breath is often quite sour. Dunno if her constant coffee drinking has anything to do with that. I feel like I have bad breath whenever I drink it (which is very rarely). I tried Tom's, and just didn't like it at all. Original Crest Reg Paste is about the only thing I can stand. Don't even like gel. Might have to try the vanilla stuff tho, in a small tube...

Wolf, probably more people don't regularly go than do! My husband hasn't been to the dentist since I can remember. Seriously. For awhile, between jobs, he didn't have insurance, and once he got it, just never went back. The fronts of his teeth look great, whiter than mine even (prebleach :)). But the tongue side is pretty gross. It's been so long that now he just doesn't want to go because he knows there will be A LOT of scraping, and he's a self proclaimed wuss when it comes to Doctors.

My dentist abandoned the old fashioned scraping thing years ago ... he uses an "ultrasonic scaler" which is a high speed mechanical version of the same thing. You can feel the plaque flying off your teeth, which is either really gross or pretty cool depending on your perspective. The old hour of scraping is replaced by 5 minutes of high pitched whining noises, and the inevitable pain is considerably reduced.

Every time. For some reason it's significantly worse in the mornings. Sometimes I can just gag a few times and continue, but usually I have to wait until later in the morning and just brush my teeth at work.

I can cure that. Just quit drinking before 9pm! :guinness: On a more serious note, I had the ultrasonic whitening done and I'm glad I did. Took 10 years off--ok, maybe five. Anyway, I'm a BIG coffee drinker so there was that. And it was painless...except for the pocketbook.

I'll call around to local dentists and see if any have this new untrasonic scaler thingie. Definately sounds worth checking out. Thanks for the info.

i had the molds made in the dentist's office abotu 3 years ago. i still have the same ones and use them about once/month. i only wear mine for 1-2 hours though and immediately brush and rinse. my teeth are sensitive for a couple of hours, but not terribly so.

the difference is immediately noticeable.

[quote][quote=wolf I just got a tube of Colgate's Herbal Freshness or whatever, mostly because it was a buck cheaper than everything else on the shelf.
I've kind of adapted to it now, a couple of brushings into the tube, but it was rough going at the outset. Anybody else get an uncontrollable urge to retch when they first start brushing sometimes? [/QUOTE] Warning - I'm going to be graphic here - I also tried the Colgate Herbal toothpaste. You adapted??!!? Not me - I choked, gagged, wretched, and came very close to puking. Never ever ever again....I would much rather chew on a twig or whatever.....However, I will am also planning on whitening my teeth and I have no doubt at all that the procedure will lead to a "procedure of the month" for me. I won't desire a facelift, lipo, boob job.....my teeth were always a little discolored due to antibiotics when I was young (or when Mom was preganant with me??) and white teeth just make you feel better - better as in clean and well groomed. Nothing wrong with that!

Oh thank goodness, it's not just me. I actually have one other friend that this happens to as well, but it's good to hear that I'm not that freaky.

This mainly occurs with mint flavored toothpastes for me. It's not the mint by itself, as I like mint in other contexts.

I read something interesting the other day regarding how the flavor "mint" works. The way I understood it was that the chemical action going on was to *block* the receptors for bitter in your mouth, and the resulting combination equalled mint! So, the four detectable tastes, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, minus bitter (in some Proctor and Gamble proportions) equals mint...

Either that or I'm all messed up.

OOPS!! I just noticed that I left out the word NOT in my last post....as in whitening my teeth WILL NOT lead to a procedure of the month! Big difference there!

It had never occurred to me that it might be the flavor of the toothpaste causing it. I've never used any toothpaste except standard Crest mint flavor--well, except that one time I tried their nasty "Orange" flavor. That tube got tossed in the garbage after one use.

They sell a 4 mini tube pack of different flavors of toothpaste that I'm going to buy tomorrow. You know, be spontaneous and outrageous.

This is cellar, what were you expecting, things to stay on topic? Curse and a blessing. I use the colgate total whitening toothpaste, largely because half the time the supermarket is out of the plain old total and it does seem to work, considering my coffee intake. Wouldn't pay for proper whitening though. Catwoman deserves a cookie.

I can't have cookies anymore my boss will find out what I've been doing instead of working.

I've been around long enough to appreciate the fine qualities drifting can bring to a thread, much the way time ages a fine wine. However, I was just trying to keep the drift within a certain boundry, away from societies distortion of what's 'normal' due to media influence etc. and on the overall physical process of tooth whitening Now, had I been asked with a little courtesy as to my personal reasons for doing it (which I stated anyway) and not directly told how I feel, and would feel, I would have been happy to answer.

Cool?