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Tooth Whitening Products?
DentistsScareMe! asks: "I'll admit it: I've got yellow-stained teeth, and it bugs the hell out of me. I've seen ads (infomercials) over the past few years, but knew them to be mostly hoax products and have steered clear. But now I've noticed the more major (and reputable) pharmaceutical companies jumping into the act, offering their own products. They're moderately expensive ($30-$50), but I'd be willing to foot the large sum _if_ I knew how well they worked. Their ads claim clinical proof, but what exactly does that mean? Did a researcher test the drug on a sample of people to measure effectiveness? Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval? Has anyone out there used any such product, or know someone who has? Care to comment on how well it has worked?"
This stuff is great, it makes my mouth feel great (fresh, clean, and tingley) everytime I brush. It seems to lighten slightly more than other toothpastes, but the tingle and feel of your mouth are much better than any other toothpaste I've ever tried. None of the other soda and peroxide pastes leave the same tingle, and its no more expensive than any other branded tube.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Are we all supposed to identify w/ the submitter because we, as a group of self-proclaimed nerds, should have poor dental hygeine from too much coffee and poor consideration of our health?
Someone please, explain to me why this was posted?
GO TO THE DAMN DENTIST!
go here http://www.epinions.com/content_61126119044
Dude - go and talk to a dentist. This is /.
I remember reading a newspaper article a while ago on the effectiveness of teeth whitening products. The dentists they interviewed said that whitening toothpastes were generally useless because the paste is not in contact with teeth for long enough. The one product that they did recommend were crest white strips which you stick on and leave on.
I am not a Dentist! Now that's a new one for Slashdot.
Seriously though, they work. Even the cheap ones work. At least they won't hurt you if you follow the directions, and if they do, I'm not a lawyer either, nor am I a millionaire that you can win money from. Before I spend a pile of dough I'd try a cheap one from the drugstore first. But that's me, and my teeth aren't yellow.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
With this advert for first post, I'm assuming that slashdot has finally sold it's soul. They ran the ask slashdot, and then this first post and got $10k from Crest. Or Cliff is trying to get Cmdr. Taco to brush. Or... one of the editorial staff has taken up trolling. I guess if I was a Slashdot editor I would start trolling like this too. Hell I would have done it a long time ago. Ok, everyone move along. Nothing to see here.
-- http://thegirlorthecar.com funny dating game for guys
Well, not exactly new; many open source projects have been signed on for years, as well as some has-been writers and editors, and more recently some p2p companies as well, some government lobbies, the occasional tech press release or product endorsement, and a few anime and game production houses. But Crest is our first mainstream corporate client outside of the IT industry!
Please give them a warm welcome; you'll be seeing more of them at least every month, with specials on such riveting topics as tooth whitening, OSS in dentistry, the importance of regular check-ups, and more on the government's nefarious conspiracy with the snack food industry.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
stop drinking coffee, pepsi, and coca-cola, and your teeth will whiten on their own.
the problem is that most people don't want to get rid of the things in their lives that cause problems, and elect to fix the effects rather than the problem itself.
stop drinking and eating things that stain your teeth, and they won't be yellow anymore. simple as that.
you'll save money, too.
I'll admit it: I've got fungus growing in my genital area and between my toes, and it bugs the hell out of me. I've seen ads (infomercials) over the past few years, but knew them to be mostly hoax products and have steered clear. But now I've noticed RiteAid and Walgreens selling "athletes foot" and "jock itch" treatments. They're moderately expensive ($5-$15), but I'd be willing to foot the large sum _if_ I knew how well they worked. Their ads claim clinical proof, but what exactly does that mean? Did a researcher test the drug on a sample of scrotii to measure effectiveness? Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval? Has anyone out there used any such product, or know someone who has? Did you use spray, ointment, or powder? Care to comment on how well it has worked? How long can you wear the same socks and underpants with this medication? Would you like to come over and apply the ointment or powder?
Alright, I can speak on this with a good degree of authority, even though I am not a dentist.
...but I'm going to assume that you don't want to go to the dentist because they can be very expensive. Assuming that your teeth are in relatively good shape, but you drink a lot of coffee or what have you, your best bet is to search Google for a company offering both carbamide peroxide gel in syringes and CUSTOM-fit trays.
First off - the toothpastes are no good. As someone already mentioned, they don't keep the peroxide close to your teeth long enough. Equally crappy are those paint-on peroxides.
White Strips are great, but they don't whiten all of your teeth, so you're left with a white section on otherwise dingy teeth. Plus it's relatively expensive for the results you get.
If you really want to whiten your teeth... you really should go see a dentist. You need to go regularly to make sure you don't have teeth that are rotting from the inside out.
Here's the drill - You get a kit with a few syringes filled the carbamide peroxide gel, two trays, a lump of putty, and a pre-paid envelope. You take the putty, mash it into a tray and make an impression of your teeth. Take the tray, drop it into the envelope and send it to the company. Several weeks later, they send you custom-fit trays. Put some gel in the NEW tray and put the tray in your mouth for 15-30 minutes a day for a week or two. Several days later, bam... white teeth!
Have you tried liquid paper?
If not, don't. Liquid paper is not a good way to whiten your teeth. Normally I wouldn't think it neccessary to point that out, but since you also seemed to have missed the fact that:
I thought that it might be worth mentioning.-- MarkusQ
Is the Crest's night time whiting stuff. You paint your teeth with it before you go to bed, and then brush it off in the morning. I recently used it before a wedding, and lots of people noticed my teeth were much whiter. I've also read some reviews that rated it above the others. It's a two week treatment, and you have to get used to sleeping with it on, but it works really really well.
News for Nerds. Stuff that matters
What's next on ask Slashdot?
"Penis extensions that really work?"
"Recommendations for a sub-$500 shoe and handbag combination?"
All things in moderation; including moderation
as much as /. is not a good place for medical advice:
howstuffworks is pretty good.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Whitetooth is like bluetooth only without as much IBM in it.
I'm told that when it's officially launched Whitetooth will feature full backwards compatability with Bluetooth. Whitetooth features higher bandwith and increased range.
I recently feild tested Bluetooth and Whitetooth in a few clubs and bars. Whitetooth fared better client responsiveness than Bluetooth or even the ubiquitous Yellowtooth. Clients which were signaled with the Whitetooth "grin" responded far more frequently than when presented with the Bluetooth "grin". The experimental Yellowtooth would often cause a total loss of communications with client devices in the vacinity.
I would say that Whitetooth has a much brighter future than Bluetooth from these informal feild tests. I personally would avoid use of Yellowtooth until it gets cleaned up. If you don't have a Whitetooth vendor in your particular market, Bluetooth is still a good solution...
[signature]
Well, yeah this fella's a bit offtopic unless you squint a bit. Most programmers I know are heavy coffee drinkers and I understand coffee is a "tooth-stainer".
My opinion is 'live with it'. I can't imagine any method of whitening teeth that won't damage them.
It should be obvious to an idiot that the words "clinically proven" can be used with relative impunity. I mean, just look at the crap they spout in hair and cosmetics commercials.
...Where? I don't see no fucking science in this stinking ad!
Jennfier Aniston proclaiming "Here comes the science bit"
Don't drink coffee.
Don't smoke anything.
Don't drink lots of soda or eat lots of candy.
Do brush your teeth everymorning and every night.
Voila! Perfectly clean teeth. I'm 21 and I've had 1 cavity ever take my advice. I attribute it mostly to my never drinking coffee or soda, ever.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
You should be concentrating on the cause, not the symptoms.
The obvious one would be to cut down on the fags. If, however, you're one of the 31% {and the rest!} of smokers who don't want to give up, then I reckon your best option probably is to use sodium hydrogen carbonate {bicarbonate of soda} which you can get from any supermarket. Add toothpaste to wet brush, push it down between the bristles with your finger, and dip in a shallow tub of bicarb. Clean one side. Rinse brush, reload and clean other side. Rinse brush, reload and clean front teeth. Rinse your mouth really well to get rid of the bicarb {it's a weak alkali; so weak you shouldn't try to neutralise it with acid, or you risk overdoing it}.
Alternatively, take a digital photo of yourself, and edit it so your teeth look whiter!
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
(obcomment) This is "News for nerd - stuff that matters?" I don't think so, Tim.(/obcomment)
Try BRUSHING your teeth. Really brushing - if you spend less than 2 minutes you aren't doing it correctly. Go to your dentist and get some disclosing tablets - these are basically food coloring that will stick to the plaque on your teeth. Brush. Then chew up a tablet. Then look in the mirror at all the places you DIDN'T reach. Brush again.
I drink a fair amount of coffee (expresso, to boot). My teeth aren't unnaturally white - I don't look like I have liquid paper on my teeth, but they are whiter than most people's teeth.
Go to your dentist for routine prophy (cleaning) twice a year.
Make sure you are getting plenty of calcium in your diet, esp. if you drink lots of colas. The phosphoric acid in the cola has to be neutralized by the body, and guess what your body uses to do so: calcium.
If you do those things, you should have strong teeth that are properly BONE colored (yes, I know that bones aren't dentin and enamel.) Bones aren't naturally white - the only time you see bones that are white are bones that have been sun-bleached.
The rash of tooth-whitening ads you see on TV are due to the fact that the FDA has approved these products - that does not mean they WORK, or that they are GOOD for you, just that they aren't terribly BAD for you. But the idea that your teeth should be 0FFFFFF is just as much a media-implanted untruth as the idea that you MUST buy the latest boy-band's dreck.
Story time: once I was in for my routine prophy, and my dentist was training a new tech. He was using my teeth as an example - "Now, we COULD go in here, cap these teeth to releive the crowding here and here..." and so on. After a bit, I said "yes, but we both know there is one thing caps cannot do that what I have can, and that is self-repair." "Yes, that's true, and you're right. Your teeth are good enough, what I was discussing would be purely cosmetic."
I have to wonder what things will be like in 20 years, when the current crop of 20 somethings are 40 years old, wearing dentures because they burned their teeth out, running around saying "What? What did you say? Eh?" because of their ThunderThump3000 car stereos. I'm going to LAUGH at them!
www.eFax.com are spammers
always found that Tipp-ex does a much 'whiter' job (closer to #000000)
#000000 is black. Hate to see your teeth.
(maybe you meant #ffffff)
Brush your damn teeth, and quit worrying. Were in ghods green earth did we get the idea that our teeth had to have an unnatural blue-white brilliance that can be used to signal low-flying planes if the sun hits them right? Oh, right. Television.
They're bone. They yellow over time and with use. It's a natural human thing. Get over it. Unless you use them professionally, say as a movie actor, you can probably just eek through your life with a slightly off-white tint, and still, somehow, die happy.
What were you expecting?
As a dentist, first of all, I cannot recommend anything for a specific situation without actually seeing the situation myself. There are different reasons why teeth are yellow, and different ways of whitening as well. As mentioned by many others, get a dentist to have a look at the situation first.
For some more general information about bleaching products: They are all peroxide-based, usually carbamide peroxide, which breaks down into hydrogen peroxide upon use. There are various ways of delivery. The over-the-counter methods such as the strips or paint-on system are lower in concentration than what you would find in a dentist-provided system, but basically the same thing. If you see a dentist, you can either have a home bleaching system made up for you, or have in-office bleaching done. The take-home system entails wearing a custom-made tray carrying the bleaching gel overnight. In-office bleaching uses quite a high concentration of peroxide, applied over a short period of time. Which one you pick depends on how much hassle you want, and costs will vary.
How well does it work? Generally, there will be some whitening, but how much depends on the patient. Smoking, coffee, and foods that stain are absolute no-no's, especially right when you're doing the bleaching, since the teeth at that point can very easily pick stains back up. 'Clinically proven' is a phrase I absolutely hate. To me, it's just a marketing phrase, and says nothing about the amount or quality of research that has been done on a particular product.
Last of all, there can be side effects from bleaching. Many people have reported sensitivity (hot and cold) after they've done it; It goes away for some. Also, I don't know of any long-term studies on whether the teeth are damaged in any way, or more susceptible to decay/etc., so that question is still up in the air.
Personally, I do bleaching for patients on occasion, but I don't really push it, due to concern about side effects. Plus, I find the resulting look can be unnatural compared to how natural teeth are supposed to look.
-- Silhouette
You basically have three options:
1. Buying somethng off shelf
These most of the times do not work. They are too weak, and they wash off too easily. If they have mouth guards, they are cheap ones that don't fit well.
The advantage is that if you have sensitive teeth this is the best option. And it's the cheapest.
Cost: $10-$40
2. Using something like BriteSmile or.. (whatever other names are.. Zoom?)
These work best. You sit in a chair, you watch a movie while an assistant props your mouth open and applies some paste. Then, they shine a light on the paste for an hour. You walk out with about 7 shades whiter.
Cost: about $500.
Advantages: fast! You can do it over lunch hour. Good results.
3. Dentist at-home whitening
Dentist gives you some syringes and a mouthguard. You add a little liquid to the mouthguard and wear them anywhere from 20 mins to overnight.
Cost: about $300 initial (mouth guard is expensive), plus about $45 to resupply syringes periodically. Can buy them much cheaper off the internet (same big brands)
Advantages: cheaper than britesmile, works much better than the off-the-shelf ones. Good results.
Disadvantages: expensive, most sensitivity issues (especially with 20% concentrations)
So, don't waste your money on off the shelf ones. Also, these things don't work on everything. If your teeth are gray because some medicine you took, you may need caps instead of bleaching. A dentist can tell you best.
.. for a while now!
Rinse and spit.
I grew up drinking well water. It turned my teeth a really funky yellow. Everyone's teeth from this area were yellow. Guess what, I've never had a cavity. I rarely goto the dentist. They always try to talk me into a teeth whitening program. They never find a cavity. I'm 36. I'm convinced that once they bleach those wonderful minerals out of my teeth, then I'll start having all those wonderful cavities that people with white teeth suffer from. Also as a side benefit, they glow brightly under black light, so when I goto a funky bar-- I got the brightest teeth. Don't bleach them, smile proudly anyway, screw marketing. Please brush however, noone likes bad breath. P.S. Slashdot is not a place for any kind of real advice.
I used to wonder what was so holy about a silent night, now I have a child.
However, it's better than nothing, and their are safegards in place to prevent unfairness and marketing subterfuge. I have no idea how well they work, but I do know epinons is entirely reliable in my experience.
The last thing I purchased through epinions was a child car seat, and I am sure that epinions saved Sharon and I a whole lot of time, and plenty of money.
Just to put my oar in when I was last at my dentist there was a note up that they were no longer able to offer teeth whitening treatment due to EU laws.
A quick search showed that as it was a cosmetic treatment the current laws restrict the concentration of hydrogen peroxide to 0.1%. Home kits apparently have about 3.6% and some treatments performed by dentists have up to 38%.
The law is being an ass, but this should come as a surprise.
You're right. I remember when these first came to market, my dad, who is a dentist and performs teeth whitening procedures (among other things, of course), was actually worried because these OTC products whitened teeth almost as well as he did, but for a tiny, tiny fraction of the price. I think you only need to wear them twice a day, for half an hour each time, and over a few weeks your teeth will turn several shades whiter.
I'm not a dentist, but I have a close family member who is a dentist.
I asked him about this once, and this is what he said:
First, he said that toothpastes don't work because they're not in contact with the tooth long enough.
Second, he said that any peroxide formula will whiten your teeth equally well. So he suggested using diluted hydrogen peroxide rinses over the course of a couple of weeks. He said, however, that there is some evidence that prolonged use of hydrogen peroxide can damage your mouth. So someone shouldn't do it for more than two weeks or so, just occasionally.
Basically, he said that if you want to whiten your mouth you should go to a dentist. But if you don't want to, you could use hydrogen peroxide rinses, but only very briefly and occasionally (e.g., once a year or so). The stuff the dentist does is designed to be much safer.
Screw the over-the-counter stuff. Get your hazmat permit and go straight to the rocket-fuel supply store. Some of that hypergolic pure hydrogen peroxide will blow you away with whiteness! Guaranteed results with the first application!
Warning: be very careful to not spill product during application. All surfaces, including the countertop, the cabinet, and likely the walls and foundation of your house may incur noticable damage. Perhaps the housing association won't notice the new windows...but you can't be too careful!
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
Why whiten when you can get Mr. Bling instead?
Sure, it's a little more expensive, but think of all the fine honeys you'll get. You won't even have to get em drunk first, which can add up to substantially lower total cost of ownership.
~GoRK
Check out his web site for the penis growth formulas... Covered in detail!
Screw this being marked as a troll...this is getting rediculouse...cliff needs a big red muzzle.
(notice, I didn't use my karma bonus)
I don't know if these still exist, but when I was a youth, they had these tooth guard things to put in your mouth when doing sports. First you boil some water, then drop this thing into it. When it's hold and melty, you put it in your mouth and bite down. It forms to your teeth and stays that way when it cools. This would save you the postage and time of mailing such a thing out.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I did a one our whitening treatment to my teeth and it produced dramatic results. The treatment was similar to "Brite Smile" but it was equipment from rembrandt instead. Here is a before/after picture. A2 was the color of my front teeth, A3 was the color of my canines
"Dramatic Results"
You can get your teeth this much whiter with other methods, but it will also take a much longer time. Over the counter stop doesnt work very well at all, no matter what it is.
However, you can get your dentist to make you whitening trays and give you the gel so that you can do it on your own at home. This method works well but takes a much longer time (30min-2hr per day for months). I am going to get trays made so that i can continue to whiten my teeth once every so often to keep the new shade.
There was a really good Slate article on that very topic last year: http://slate.msn.com/id/2063524/
Works slowly, but it works. And, it tastes a *lot* better than the other whitening toothpastes I've tried (Colgate, Crest, Arm & Hammer).
I've tried the crest whitening strips....(~$30) didn't work so well. I tried the cheap goo in the mouth peice (~$15 - forgot the maker)....not so good. I then tried the rembrandt goo in the mouth piece (~$35). This stuff works pretty well on coffee and tobacco stains. Just one man's opinion.
These both work, and work fairly quickly.
:)
However, the Whitenening Strips made my teeth ache if I used them for two days in a row. Had to switch to a one-day-on, two-days-off rotation.
The Whiteneing Gel works ok, but you have to let it dry on your teeth without you tongue or lips touching your teeth (takes about two minutes). That was a real pain.
I also tried another one that had used a gel and a tooth mold. That one didn't work too well, and it really made me salivate, which made a mess. Stopped using that one after a week.
I still think the best bet is to get a job with dental coverage, and get a good scrubbing done at the dentist.
Here's something that'll help make your penis bigger!
so I would recommend
dental hygiene school.
don't get too carried away with the whitening, adults don't look natural with milk-white teeth, and teeth that are too white can make matching shades for restorative work immpossible. As for effectiveness I'd say that if the crest products were not effective, then the dental
community would not be so royaly pissed off at them for marketing direct to the public, instead of through the dentists. In offfice or dentist supplied take home kits do tend to work faster.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/898648/posts
I've gargled with 35% H2O2 before to help me resist winter colds. It works. It is not smart, as 35% will burn when it contacts the mucous membranes at the back of your throat but you do live. Just gargle and spit.
Don't be afraid of something before you understand it.
This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
Talk to your dentist. They can do all sorts of things in addition to the products you see advertised.
Some dentists can get the Crest white strips in a much stronger version and I think more for the money.
All in all talk to your dentist. The whitening strips work (not perfect but results are good) even for those who have yellow teeth by nature/accident (thanks to those drugs babies are no longer given).
Crest WhiteStrips are available in two forms. There is the kind that you can only get at the dentist, and then the kind you can get over the counter in many drugstores and groceries.
The OTC version is much more dilute, and costs nearly the same as the dentist version.
You are better off going to the dentist and getting those - which are $60 and work - then instead going to the store and buying them for $40 and having them not work.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
ah poo. :)
Feel that power? That's mah MOUSING FINGER
While all tooth paste is mildly abrasive, the whitening ones are more abbrasive. You are not supposed to use whitening tooth pastes all the time. Eventually, you'll wear down your enamel.
Remember the key to life: everything in moderation.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
ah poo. :)
Yep, that color.
Everything will be taken away from you.
As tea and coffee are the most powerful tooth stainers, how about neutralizing the staining ingredients first before they can get into your mouth by adding a de-colorizer like activated charcoal and a pinch of baking soda to your tea and coffee?
Scroogle
So.... what's wrong with mouthwash?
"yes, but we both know there is one thing caps cannot do that what I have can, and that is self-repair."
The ENAMEL on your teeth (which is the outter covering, the part you see, the part being turned from yellow to white) is as dead as your HAIR and FINGERNAILS. It is NOT self-repairing.
Bone is self-repairing, and actually is absorbed and rebuilt continually at a rate of about 1% per month (or about 100% per seven years).
I heard about a guy in the Arizona desert who had a surplus JATO unit. It occurred to him that he could whiten his teeth really, really fast by utilizing it. He mounted it appropriately and added hydrogen peroxide and then ...
I have noticed that my herpes outbreaks are getting more nasty than usual. My genital warts are flaring up as well. What does the typical slashdot geek do to treat their symptoms? I've heard various TV and radio ads for products that claim to help, but before I shell out the $50 for the product, I'd like to hear how well it works. What are your thoughts?
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Does use of the phrase 'clinically proven' require anything like FDA approval?
I'm not a dentist, but my Dad is. The upshot is this: look on the packaging. On the front you're looking for a little logo that says:
On the back, it should have a little blurb that says something like:
If the product doesn't have anything on it from the ADA, it probably doesn't work. A good example of this is "Plax", a pre-brushing mouth rinse which claims to loosen plaque so your brushing is more effective. Only problem is, when the ADA tested it, they found that a saline solution was more effective. Hence "Plax" can't bear any ADA logo, and you're probably wasting your money by buying it. Whereas right next to it on the shelf is usually "ACT", a fluoride rinse for after you brush your teeth. It works quite well, and has the ADA's "seal of approval" to prove it.
(Incidentally, Plax is also "clinically-proven": they contrasted brushing with a dry toothbrush (no water or toothpaste) for fifteen seconds vs. rinsing with Plax and then brushing with a dry toothbrush for fifteen seconds. Turns out using Plax first "loosened" the plaque, so brushing was more effective for people using a dry toothbrush for fifteen seconds. If, on the other hand, you're using a wet toothbrush with toothpaste (like most of us), then rinsing with Plax first is a waste of time and money.)
So regarding tooth whitening, I have three recommendations, in order:
Graham "Teach" Mitchell, computer science teacher, Leander HS
Here's my deal:
* Go to college - pretty decent teeth... fairly clean
* Drink coffee, smoke about a pound of weed every week, drink soda, beer, eat *whatever*, brush like once or maybe twice a day...
* Come home from grad school - teeth yellow, some gingivitis...
* Dentist recommends a SoniCare toothbrush. Offers me a coupon for some bucks off, and 30 day money-back guarantee...
* 30 days later, gums have no gingivitis, and are getting whiter (still haven't changed the diet, but do smoke lots less weed...).
* 6 months later - teeth several shades lighter. Not bright white, but not disgusting yellow like when I graduated...
* Teeth feel really smooth after brushing (only takes two minutes). For the first week of owning the sonicare, my gums hurt, but that's because I was cleaning all that crap out of there...
My advice - buy a Sonicare. Use it with a gel toothpaste (I use Crest tartar control). Brush twice a day with it (4 mins a day out of your life). Replace the head every 6 months (oh, $20 or so). Floss once a week, maybe twice. Try to brush after drinking coffee or wine (or at least swish your mouth with some plain water).
Forget fooling with the trays, and strips, and all that shit.