Grr... I Need to Whiten my Teeth

[Godless]

Ever since I came to college I kinda noticed my teeth have gotten a little yellower than it was before, which is gross. I also drink a lot of coffee. Is there any good way of whitening my teeth?

[LoneMateria]

When I whiten my teeth I use Crest White strips.  There is all sorts of whitening products out there, you can go overboard and get some whitening toothpaste (I like the Crest pro health with whitening myself) and then I think Listerine makes a whitening mouth wash.  So try some of those and see if it helps ^_^  Also an electric toothbrush is helpful ^_^

**EDIT**

Also there are some cheap whitening procedures where they shine a light on your teeth for 20 min and it whitens them.  Our Sams club has those out every once in a while.

[Whitney]

The OTC stuff works, however I don't know if it is the safest method.

[Godless]

When I whiten my teeth I use Crest White strips.  There is all sorts of whitening products out there, you can go overboard and get some whitening toothpaste (I like the Crest pro health with whitening myself) and then I think Listerine makes a whitening mouth wash.  So try some of those and see if it helps ^_^  Also an electric toothbrush is helpful ^_^

**EDIT**

Also there are some cheap whitening procedures where they shine a light on your teeth for 20 min and it whitens them.  Our Sams club has those out every once in a while.

I'm using whitening toothpaste right now and it doesn't work. How well do the Crest White strips work though?

[LoneMateria]

After a few uses you can tell the difference.  The only drawback is they don't do all your teeth only the ones you would normally see with a normal smile and while talking.  (Either that or I have a big mouth ^_^ i'm a big person so It might just be my big 6'4 self ^_^)

**Edit** while I remember my dad started having sensitivity problems with his teeth and the specifically asked if he was using whitening strips.  They may make your teeth more sensitive (my dads problem was the rinse he used for years)

[Whitney]

I smoke and I think my teeth are a normal color...I use whitening toothpaste with an electric oral-b whitening toothbrush.  The last time I used a whitening kit was over two years ago before our wedding.  The one I used was from Avon; I think it was brush on.  A year or two before that I used Crest (or something like that) brush on and it worked well too.  I think I may have used the tray kind one other time but didn't like it so much...a bit too bulky for my mouth; but the tray will get the whitening stuff onto all of your teeth (not that it matters if the stuff people don't see is white).  I like the brush on because I have a spot on one of my front teeth that whitens a lot faster than the surrounding area, so I can just not put as much stuff on it.  You can expect it to change your teeth by about one or two shades (nothing that drastic).

I suggest cutting down on the coffee...I don't think you can use the kits safely that often so they'd just keep getting yellow again if you don't remove the major cause.  I believe I have read somewhere that if you whiten with the wrong kind of product then drink coffee it can stain your teeth even faster because it messes with the enamel's protection.

[Thom Phelps]

My dental hygienist suggested rinsing my mouth with water after drinking tea (which stains, too) or coffee. Seemed kind of odd to have a cup of water waiting in the wings as soon as I'm done with my tea, though here in Colorado we're water fanatics due to high risk of dehydration. She warned against over-using the whiteners and whiteners in toothpaste as they damage the enamel and make your teeth translucent, i.e.gray, to add to Whitney's caution.

If it's just staining from what you drink, a hygienist should be able to polish the stains right off. Mine does every time, twice a year.

[Godless]

I smoke and I think my teeth are a normal color...I use whitening toothpaste with an electric oral-b whitening toothbrush.  The last time I used a whitening kit was over two years ago before our wedding.  The one I used was from Avon; I think it was brush on.  A year or two before that I used Crest (or something like that) brush on and it worked well too.  I think I may have used the tray kind one other time but didn't like it so much...a bit too bulky for my mouth; but the tray will get the whitening stuff onto all of your teeth (not that it matters if the stuff people don't see is white).  I like the brush on because I have a spot on one of my front teeth that whitens a lot faster than the surrounding area, so I can just not put as much stuff on it.  You can expect it to change your teeth by about one or two shades (nothing that drastic).

I suggest cutting down on the coffee...I don't think you can use the kits safely that often so they'd just keep getting yellow again if you don't remove the major cause.  I believe I have read somewhere that if you whiten with the wrong kind of product then drink coffee it can stain your teeth even faster because it messes with the enamel's protection.

Eh, giving up coffee isn't really an option for me because I tend to stay up late and I need coffee to stay awake during my classes.

[TheOGMamaBear]

I've added two steps to brushing my teeth and it helps a lot.

First, I dry brush, just the tooth brush no paste. My dentist suggested this. Then I brush with paste, then I brush with baking soda as a whitener.

[LoneMateria]

I've added two steps to brushing my teeth and it helps a lot.

First, I dry brush, just the tooth brush no paste. My dentist suggested this. Then I brush with paste, then I brush with baking soda as a whitener.

I heard somewhere that if you use baking soda too much it wears the enamel off of your teeth.  Though I forgot about its awesome whitening power.

[TheOGMamaBear]

I've added two steps to brushing my teeth and it helps a lot.

First, I dry brush, just the tooth brush no paste. My dentist suggested this. Then I brush with paste, then I brush with baking soda as a whitener.

I heard somewhere that if you use baking soda too much it wears the enamel off of your teeth.  Though I forgot about its awesome whitening power.

It probably does, but they put it in toothpaste.

I do it a few times a week. I am scared or doing permanent damage!

I love rich dark coffee, we buy from a local place that roasts there own. It's so good.

At least I don't smoke.

[Godless]

I actually drink the cans of Starbucks Doubleshot because I can consume them quickly before I head to class and they're strong unlike other energy drinks which barely wake me up.

[TheOGMamaBear]

I actually drink the cans of Starbucks Doubleshot because I can consume them quickly before I head to class and they're strong unlike other energy drinks which barely wake me up.

I started drinking coffee after having my daughter, I couldn't handle the not sleeping! Now I've got a taste for it, but only good stuff...so it started out because I wanted the caffeine and turned into something else. Now that I'm pregnant again I'm trying to save it for the weekends when my husband is home, because then we just make a pot, but somedays I just need it!

[Whitney]

Have you tried making sure you are drinking plenty of water?  Unless I"m really tired, water makes me more alert with out the jittery side affects of caffeine.  I also suggest working on your sleep schedule...it will catch up to you quickly; what will suffer is that you'll just decide to not go to morning classes (been there done that...why I took blow off classes in the morning).

[Squid]

Have you tried making sure you are drinking plenty of water?  Unless I"m really tired, water makes me more alert with out the jittery side affects of caffeine.  I also suggest working on your sleep schedule...it will catch up to you quickly; what will suffer is that you'll just decide to not go to morning classes (been there done that...why I took blow off classes in the morning).

Just to add to Whitney's advice:

http://www.umm.edu/sleep/sleep_hyg.htm