Whitening toothpaste

[matadorpoeta]

Has anyone found a whitening paste that actually works?

 

[Bradford]

I haven't really seen a difference with the whitening versus non-whitening toothpastes, however, I definitely saw a difference when I used the Crest Whitestrips.

They were cheap, but worked quite well if you can find an hour a day (total) to wear them on your teeth.

Bradford

 

[vero_group]

Do the whitestrips give you a "cheesy" white smile or do they really give you one that doesn't look like you whitened your teeth artificially?

 

[Bradford]

Do the whitestrips give you a "cheesy" white smile or do they really give you one that doesn't look like you whitened your teeth artificially?

In my experience, the whitening was very natural. Same smile, just whiter teeth. To be honest, my teeth weren't really bad before doing it, but I definitely saw an improvement after using them. However, unlike the advertisements, no one was blinded when I opened my mouth and my smile wouldn't replace a flashlight when the power goes out in my neighborhood (as it did yesterday for an hour)

Take the ads with a grain of salt, I'm sure they exaggerate to sell the product. Bradford

 

[tricket]

How about electric toothbrushes? Do they work? I drink a lot of espresso and strong tea and I need something to undo the stains.

Thanks.

 

[matadorpoeta]

my advice is for you to stop drinking caffeine. aside from staining your teeth, it is also dehydrating you. it's bad for your skin, stomach, and intestines. when you need a quick energy boost, try fruit juice. if you're not physically addicted to caffeine, juice will do the trick.

 

[Bradford]

I have a Sonicare electric toothbrush and it seems to do a good job, however, I don't believe that it would actually remove stains. It might do a better job of keeping them away in the future after you have your teeth professionally cleaned at the dentist's office.

I read somewhere that the main benefit of the electric toothbrushes, like mine, is that apart from the 5,000 or 10,000 brushstrokes per second (or whatever they say it does), the real benefit is that with the built in timer, you actually tend to brush for a full 2 minutes and that most people don't actually brush long enough with regular toothbrushes to create more than minimal cleaning on your teeth. I know that ever since I got my electric toothbrush, my brushing takes longer and I make sure to go over every section more carefully.

Luckily for me, I have always had good teeth, so I am not a good comparison to tell if the electric toothbrush is of true benefit.

Bradford

 

[GQgeek]

you should talk to your dentist (or just use common sense)before using whitening strips. I hardly have yellow teeth (i haven't had a cavity in my life), but I sort of wanted them a bit whiter and I asked my dentist about them on my last visit. What he told me was this:

unless I wanted to get an appliance to straighten my bottom teeth, i shouldnt use whitening strips because it won't work well on the places where my teeth aren't straight and it would look funny.

BTW the whole whitening toothpaste thing is bs. It's pure marketing. They put a miniscule amount of whitener in it. On top of this, you don't leave it on your teeth, you rinse your mouth almost as soon as you finish brushing.

Anothe bit of marketing trivia. My marketing prof used to work for gilette. You wanna know the difference between the men's and women's deodorant (assuming the unscented versions)? The package. That's it ;p

I'm sure it's the same in many ways for toothpaste. They target customers with different needs by doing nothing but changing the packaging and people go for it. Why? well because "if the picture on the box shows that my teeth can go from yellow to white in a month, than it must be true or it wouldn't say so."

 

[vero_group]

I for one don't think there is enough diversity in our deodorant and toothpaste options in the typical American grocery store. We could probably use two or three more aisles full of this kind of stuff, just to ensure every unique need or combination of features is met. And there's just not enough innovation in this sector -- I don't see "new and improved" on the labels enough to make me feel comfortable that America remains on the cutting edge of advanced consumer hygene technology. We'll probably be outsourcing it all to India soon anyway...

 

[Fernando]

You can brush your teeth with sodium bicarbonate if you dislike whitening toothpaste. If this doesn´t work, go with your dentist. He can whiten your teeth with a machine.