Question:
I was wondering if anyone has tried those new Crest tooth whitening strips.
They look fairly cool but I don't want to invest $40 and an hour of
dorkiness a day if they don't work.
Has anyone tried them? Is there any inconvenience involved other than the
obvious lameness of wearing a strip for 2 periods of 30 minutes a day? Do
they actually visually improve the whiteness of your teeth?
Answer:
Yeah....they work well, but they are kinda like pills you take on a regular
basis. I can never remember to put them on. You have to leave them on for a
half hour, and talking with them on is kinda hard, so for me it's hard to
put them on in the morning. You cannot put them on after brushing, which
means I don't put them on while commuting, which would be the most
convenient time for me. :^P But, yes they work.
No!!!!! They didn't work on my teeth and my teeth are not even stained from
smoking or coffee. My teeth just arent "white" -they've got a bit of a
yellowish tint. The whitening toothpastes never work, the whitening gums do
jack shit...so i thought hmmm...crest guarantees that the strips work..lemme
try em'! No success!! Actually -my teeth/jaw were killing me a couple of times
cause the strips make my teeth soooo sensitive. Also, where my tooth begins
-right at the gumline -it felt like it was on fire a few times and got all
white and puffy(while wearing a strip) -i flipped out when this happened...i
thought it was puss or something. It took an hour after removing the strip for
the whiteness to go away, but it was still red & i could not touch it or brush
near it!! Ouch -i learned that the hard way.
So, my final thoughts are -they don't whiten your teeth, but they sure as hell
burn your gums to oblivion.
Funny.. I went to my dentist yesterday for a cleaning, and I talked
with him and his dental assistant about whitening methods. He said to
get the Crest strips instead of paying him $300 for the same results.
He had his dental assistant try them out of curiosity (after a patient
had really good results).
Some tips he gave me:
- Wear them for up to two hours. He said the instructions for "20 -
30 minutes" is a marketing scheme to get you to use the strips more
quickly and thus go buy more. According to him, the active
ingredients are active for over two hours. The assistant had better,
faster results after one box (1 -2 hours per treatment) than the
patient had in five boxes (at 20 minutes per treatment).
- Try to do any whitening right after a cleaning/polishing. According
to the denstist, teeth have "pores", and any discoloration is actually
inside these pores, not on the surface. Right after a cleaning, the
pores are more open, so the whitening agent will go deeper into the
tooth, where the stains are. But it will still work sufficiently even
if you haven't had a cleaning in a while.
- Any whitening treatment will make your teeth very sensitive for up
to a week after you stop. Something to keep in mind if you already
have ouchy teeth.
Wow.. two know-it-all posts in one week from me.. I hope some of you
guys actually find my posts helpful! Truly, I just thought since I
got this very info from a professional, I might as well pass it on
since it was asked. :)
I will be getting the Crest strips this week, so as I progress I will
post a review. If it really does work as well as professional
whitening, I bet most of you would rather pay $44 onstead of $300+! :D
They've done a fabulous job on my teeth, but as other posters have
said, the main problem is remembering to put them on. I haven't had
any problem talking with them on, tho'.
So yeah, I like them. I noticed a difference in my tooth color about
4 days into using the strips. Now I just have to remember to use the
ones for my bottom teeth. ;-)
