In the recent years, I’ve been really into whitening my teeth. Call it addiction or obsession, I just love buying products that claims and proves (some) to whiten my teeth. From the traditional method of using baking soda to whitening it in the dental clinic, I’ve tried it all, or so I believe haha.
Here is the list of methods that I’ve tried and my take on its end result.
Disclaimer: These are my opinions after buying using my own money and trying it on my teeth. Results may vary depending on how discoloured your teeth is.
Brushing on (baking soda + water): Yuck! I have to admit it is the cheapest (a small bottle of baking soda can last for quite a while) and the safest (no harmful chemicals!), but the gritty texture and after-taste is so bad that it made me not want to do it after a week!
Eraser: Tasteless and cheap but a total FAIL! It did nothing to my teeth! Maybe just maybe, it will work for those who have coffee stains on their teeth, but other than that, don’t bother getting it.
Brush-on whitening gel: I bought this off ebay at an affordable price. However, this stuff taste funky and doesn’t absorb as quickly. So after applying it onto my teeth, as soon as I close my mouth, it liquidifies and mixes with my saliva. So I end up swallowing my own saliva. I don’t think it worked at all considering that I usually swallow all the gel lol.
Whitening gel (placed onto a mouth guard): I received this item from my dentist so am unsure how much does this really cost. So far I’ve not seen in any guardian or watsons. Maybe it’s like a control drug or something. Idk. The gel is in a syringe-like tube and you’re supposed to fill the mouth guard with the gel. It tastes like toothpaste and I couldn’t close my mouth properly when I‘ve placed both upper and lower mouth guards in. So with an open mouth, I tend to salivate a lot more, hence it seems like I was slurping the gel away. Now because I placed it in the mouth guard, most of the product is concentrated at the bottom of the mouth guard. Hence, the tip of my teeth is whiter than the front surface area of my teeth. Get it?
Whitening toothpaste: I’ve only tried two to three brands of toothpaste, mainly because I found one that works for me. Currently I am using Colgate Whitening, before this I was using toothpaste from the Colgate family still. This brand works just fine for me, no gum sensitivity and the after taste is nice and minty. Downside though, it is expensive (as compared to other brands) and contains a lot of chemicals. This is a tip, to check the acidity level and if your toothpaste is partially or fully chemical based, check the tiny square at the back of the toothpaste tube.
Whitening strips: I’ve used Crest whitening strips, both the normal and 3D strips. But before you use this product, you need to ensure that you have no gum sensitivity at all. It can sting quite a bit if you have swollen gums (been there, terrible feeling ever). 3D strips hold on better to my teeth and works faster (I believe) as compared to the normal ones. The normal ones would slip and slide especially when I tend to salivate a lot. To me, it looks exceptionally good in photos but in real-life, it’s just ok-lah. Oh yeah not forgetting, when I first started using this, I notice that my teeth has white spots. Maybe because the chemical in the whitening strip somehow chose to clean certain areas of my tooth. Idk haha. Prices may vary depending on the number of packets you buy. In Singapore, most resellers sell by packets of strips instead of the box, so do your research first before buying.
Professional dental whitening: This is the most expensive of all the treatment that I’ve done. Truth be told, I didn’t see a vast difference in my teeth immediately after the session. You know like those you watch in Extreme makeover series, where the dentist reveal and the patient is like ecstatic and crying tears of happiness. Nope, didn’t happen to me. The dentist said it’s because my teeth was already white in the first place (yeah right). So over the next few weeks, I followed the dentist advice regarding diet (no dark coloured drinks/food) and voila! It not that white, but it was a glossy, pearly white, well kind of. It looked good in pictures and real life. The only bummer was maintaining it. I can’t drink green tea as much, drink with a straw, not eat food that contains too much food colouring etc. Does it last? I did this in 2011, and hmmmmm it’s not as white as before but you know, due to diet n all. Worth it? Definitely yes. But pls if you do choose to do it, make sure you are disciplined enough to maintain it.
Ok, so that’s all for now. To support my teeth whitening craze, I just bought another teeth whitening product. This time it’s Whitening Lightning. Comes with a light device oohlalaa. I’ll be trying it out this whole week and be doing a review next Friday.
xoxo
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