Pearly Whites to LightBrites?

May 12, 2011 10:40 AM

I'm thinking of whitening my teeth using cold blue light with whitening gel . have you done this before? what was your experience, did it make your teeth hurt, how long between appointments do i need to wait, anything else i should know? thanks!
posted by andreapandrea to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

I did it about ten years ago. It went fine. They only did the front of my teeth, if that's an issue for you.

My teeth are a bit grey, now, but I drink a lot of coffee and wine.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2011

I did it a couple of years ago as a free promotion at work. It didn't hurt, and it didn't make any difference (but my teeth are not particularly discolored). None of my friends who also got it seemed particularly impressed. We were providing banking services for a houswife who had just purchased the whitening equipment, and I think it was generally accepted that it's a bit of a scam along the lines of Mary Kay, etc. in the sense that better and cheaper alternatives are readily available.

If you're interested in procedures that actually work, I've been getting fantastic results with a dentist-made tray and carbamide peroxide gels. It takes a while though, and it's not particularly pleasant.
posted by halogen at 11:30 AM on May 12, 2011

I buy Rembrandt two-hour whitening kits on amazon.com for $13. For your first time, I recommend getting two kits. I do a touch up once a year. You, however, are free to spend as you please...
posted by mmdei at 2:47 PM on May 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding halogen that you should check out the whitening at home with dentist-made trays option. My dentist said the in-office procedure (which is at least 3x as expensive) is no more effective, just faster. For me, the at-home version did hurt, but only while the trays were in (30 minutes/night for 5 nights), not afterward.
posted by synchronia at 6:44 PM on May 12, 2011

I did do this exact procedure at my dentist about 3 years ago. I would not do it again due to the pain I experienced. It was such a sharp and intense nerve pain about 5 minutes into the session that they had to come in and adjust things. I don't think I even made it to the end of the treatment it hurt so badly ( like a nerve pain) . My teeth were noticeably whiter, but for weeks afterwards my front teeth hurt when I smiled to broadly outdoors ( if there was a breeze) or when I turned the air conditioning on in my car ( the cold air hitting my teeth).
posted by Rapunzel1111 at 12:29 PM on May 13, 2011