Teeth Whitening Blog - What is the Best Way?

Naturally White Teeth: Whiten Your Teeth With a Strawberry

You can whiten your teeth easily with a strawberry and baking soda.  We haven't tried this ourselves, but it sounds like an amazing way to stay natural and keep your teeth white.  This is recommended no more than once per week as it produces a strong acid whicih can damage your tooth enamel if used excessively.  Let us know if you've tried this and how it's worked.

You will need:
1 very ripe strawberry
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (Arm & Hammer, etc.)

Instructions: Crush the strawberry down to a pulp, and then mix with the baking powder until well blended. Use your soft toothbrush to spread the mixture onto your front teeth. Leave it on for 5 minutes, and then brush thoroughly with toothpaste to remove the berry–baking soda mix. Rinse. (Some dental floss will help get rid of any strawberry seeds.) You can apply up to once a week.

It's cheaper any day than teeth whitening in San Francisco!!!

Listerine Dissolving Whitening Strips: Convenient or Wasted Cash?

Listerine's quick dissolving strips are heralded as a more convenient way to whiten your teeth.  There's no dentist visit needed, and the strips dissolve.  For the Crest strips that we've used many times - you need to take the slimy, messy plastic strips off your teeth.  Listerine has eliminated that step.  But do they work?  

It takes around 5-10 minutes for them to dissolve - so if you are "hiding" your whitening from co-workers, keep in mind this gap.  Listerine expects results in around two weeks, but does not state the strength of the chemicals on the strip, which are a key factor to how much whitening you will experience.  

We'd recommend these if you are considering a non-dentist option.  They're convenient and save a mess.  If you've tried them - let us know how they worked versus the Crest Whitening Strips that have become the market leader in this space.  Here's what they look like on the store shelf with an average price around $25 to $30 for a two week supply:

Is Ultreo the Sonicare killer for whitening?

When our dentist showed us the Ultreo toothbrush - it looked a lot like Sonicare.  We'll admit - we love Sonicare's ability to keep our teeth and gums healthy, plus excellent day-to-day whitening.  But Ultreo sounded different - and promised to add ultrasound to our brushing.   Does Ultreo work any better than Sonicare?

Claiming to start "where sonic ends" - Ultreo channels ultrasound into bubbles "through a proprietary ultrasound waveguide".  What the heck is a an ultrasound waveguide anyways?

Ultreo's studies show that the the brush removes coffee and tea stains better, plus show photos to back it up.  People's testimonials on the brush are very positive - and the price around USD $130 is very competitive with Sonicare.  Many of users comments mention better teeth whitening as a major benefit. 

Have you tried Ultreo - is it better than Sonicare or just more marketing hype?

Kids: How Young for Tooth Whitening?

Dentists and parents are becoming increasingly concerned about the use of teeth whitening products by children as young as 7-10.  Children are attracted to the Chiclet-like incredible white teeth they see with celeberties like Cameron Diaz and Britney Spears.  Dentists are now calling the effect "toilet bowl teeth" since the teeth are so white - they resemble toilet bowl porcelain. 

At the Chicago Dental Society - a recent professionals convention - over 40% were concerned over "too white smiles" especially with children.  Signs of issues can include inflamed gums; sensitivity / pain; or a blue / grey effect around the edges of teeth.  Parents should carefully consider tooth whitening for kids, especially how much they use of the tooth whitening products.  Moderate use can be reasonable - but over-use is the issue.  On average - over 60% of people who use teeth whitening products experience some gum irritation or sensitivty pain.

Tooth whitening is a great advance to keep you looking beautiful, but there is a line of reasonablity with our children.  Are your kids whitening teeth-- thoughts from our communitiy?

Lose Weight or White Teeth

After a few rounds of teeth whitening, we often debate whether the expense and hassle of teeth whitening and how it compares with other beauty techniques like weight loss.  After thinking about it over a few cosmo martinis - we put together this guide of pro's / con's:

Foods:
Teeth Whitening - Eat whatever you want - avoid staining foods like coffee, tea, and colored juices.
Weight Loss - Watch carefully what you eat.

Exercise:
Teeth Whitening - No exercise needed - just spend 30 minutes a day for about a week.
Weight Loss - Regular exercise required.

Cost:
Teeth Whitening - At least around $50 for home treatments - easily $500+ for dentist based more effective treatments.
Weight Loss - Can be done for little or nothing - just eat right and exercise.  We decided to invest $10 in a weight loss guide and found this "brutally honest" weight loss program as an e-book.  It's very helpful although no comparison to the ease of whitening our teeth.  It can't hurt to stay in shape, so we'll be working to follow the principles in the guide.  Stay tuned....

Home Tooth Whitening Countdown

Ok, so if your looking to whiten your teeth at minimum cost -- the first thing you need to cut out is visiting your dentist.  Here's a countdown of the top methods to whiten your teeth at home -- from worst to first:

#3  Natural White Pro Teeth Bleaching System

High, complex sounding things that seem to be very similar to toothpaste and mouthwash.  Very uncomfortable and messy trays.  You've got to boil the trays and they are mighty hot when you put them in your mouth.  $25 for 3% hydrogen peroxide.

#2  Ultra Plus White Complete Teeth Whitening System
Soft, foam ball like a Nerf ball you played with as a kid.  You bite into the soft foam Nerf ball to whiten.  Just as bad as Natural White, for $10 less @ only $15.

#1 (best!) Crest White Strips

It's like a band-aid you press against your teeth.  The band-aid is pre-coated with hydrogen peroxide gel.  Wal-Mart sells a cheaper alternative, but the material is much heavier and harder to mold around your teeth.  Double the hydrogen peroxide for tooth whitening of the other two options @ 6%.  Cost is much higher at $43, but there are discounts and basic versions available.  Major drawback is that it does not whiten your back teeth (molars) see our previous posts.

For all of these products, be careful of tooth sensitivity.  If your teeth become overly sensitive -- discontinue use for a few days until they return to normal.  An every other day schedule is very helpful to avoid sensitivity.

What the heck is Zoom Dental?

In researching teeth whitening options - we've found Zoom Dental to come up high in almost any review of the options to whiten your teeth.  Zoom Dental is a combination of a dentist applied gel, and dentist applied laser accelleration technique to whiten teeth.  The system is marketed via dentists although the company publishes extensive info on the internet. 

Oddly - there is no way to use the site to find a dentist that provides the Zoom Dental system.  Zoom Dental appears to compete with BriteSmile - whose website now only provides you to company-owned Britesmile clinics.   There is no info on the Zoom site explaining the cost of the system - since Britesmile sells directly through their clinics -- they can price it (around $400 starting).

Do you know anyone that has tried the laser technique?  Some say it's better .... others say its a useless gimmick....    What has been your experience for dental teeth whitening in the community?

Crest Whitening Strips Review

We've been trying out Crest Whitening strips for few years now for tooth whitening.  The product is a great deal and convenience at under $30, but has several challenges:

1.)  You need to use it twice a day for 30 minutes to whiten your teeth for a week.  It's comparable to other dental products for tooth whitening -- but the twice a day factor makes it a challenge. 

2.)  The strips only whiten your front teeth.  It leaves no change to your back teeth and molars.  It's a good value - but anyone looking closely can see a stark contract in the tooth color. The uneven whitening makes it a questionable deal - but is a good way to try out / experiment with tooth whitening without having to see (and pay) your dentist.

In summary - for around $30 - Crest Whitening Strips are a clever product to try out tooth whitening.  The time commitment and uneven whitening can be drawbacks but its a good way to start out.  What do you think?  Have you tried these?

Welcome to the Teeth Whitening Blog

Hello World - We are launching this blog to help guide you in choosing teeth whitening products.  Our multi-year quest for safe, effective, and rapid tooth whitening has been a twisted road - and we want to work to share our knowledge. 

In speaking with dentists, friends, and reading on the web - it's obvious there are a number of differing views regarding the effectiveness of various treatments and especially the use of lasers from specialized cosmetic dentists and Brite Smile.  We hope to provoke an active discussion on what products work and balance the cost and time of each of these products.

With price ranges for teeth whitening ranging from $15 to $500 and up -- it's important for (most of us!) to spend our money wisely.   We look forward to sharing a healthy discussion with the blog community and hopefully ending up with all of us having whiter teeth -- and some money left in our pocketbooks.