Whitening Your Teeth: Is it Just an Expensive Vanity?

I would like to know why people spend so much money whitening their teeth. There are so many ways to do this, and from what I have been reading, not every way works for everyone.

I was working at my day job the other day and I was putting in an order for a couple that were very cheery and were discussing their plans for the upcoming week. They mentioned an operation and the husband stated, "It just seems ridiculous to me that it's going to cost $5,000 for this expensive vanity!" I couldn't help but ask what it was about and he said, "My wife is having a tooth operation this week for porcelain veneers." His wife grew defensive and I quickly regretted asking. Her case that she fought was that she wanted to feel more confident when she smiled and spoke with clients at her job, etc.

I understood where she was coming from, but I glanced at her smile and it wasn't horrible. Her teeth were a little dull, but they weren't coffee stained, and if she smoked you wouldn't be able to tell. Her teeth were all straight, but her mouth barely opened wide enough to see. Maybe this was because she was feeling insecure about her smile.

I remember when I graduated from college, I decided to try the Crest Whitestrips that you use for 14 days. They were marvelous! My teeth were whiter than they had ever been before and I was happy to smile for the graduation photos! After two weeks of using the strips in the morning and at night, I had a whiter smile. However, I happen to notice that if I didn't scrub away all of the gel that came off of the strips right away, plaque would swarm to the cracks and crevices and the gel would attract the junk. My dentist was not pleased after I used the strips.

Just 6 months after using the Crest strips, I decided to use them again because my teeth had been stained from coffee. No way were my teeth going to allow this. They were so sensitive that the nerves in my teeth stung when I tried using the strips again! My enamel had been stripped, I believe, and I think I am going to have to wait awhile before using them again! Ouch.

Then I see commercials online about the Rembrandt gel that can whiten your teeth in 2 hours. This seems marvelous. You are supposed to form a tray to your teeth, then put gel inside and form to your teeth for 20 minutes, rinse your mouth and tray and rest for 10 minutes, and repeat for three more times. Rembrandt claims that the gel is enamel-safe and merely contains peroxide that bleaches your teeth to get the dyes and chemicals out from food and tannins from drinks such as red wines and coffee.

I did my research and read up on some reviews. From what I gathered, if you don;t have noticeably stained and disgusting looking teeth, there won't be a dramatic difference when you are done with the 2 hour treatment. Yet it seems to work differently for everyone. Interesting. Maybe I'll try it since there are coupons online for it!

I also see commercials for Lumineers. This is an alternative to painful veneer operations. Lumineers are basically a porcelain covering for you teeth, I guess. I'm not quite sure how they work, but they seem expensive! On the commercials and the patients on their website, they seem to look very nice. These are permanently white and can fix gaps and crooked teeth! They are basically a miracle for those who don't want to deal with braces and veneer operations, which sand and grind down your teeth so they never look the same again.

Just how important is it for people to have their teeth looking absolutely perfect? How much money are you willing to spend? My mother used to tell me to just use baking soda or arm and hammer tooth past and scrub the stains away with the peroxide. Unless I was always in the news or on television like a celebrity, I don't think I would care enough to spend thousands of dollars on whitening my teeth like that.

I understand that people would like to feel more confident with their smile, and I guess if you have the money, go ahead and do what it takes! But hey, if the singer Jewel can live with her teeth being crooked, I can live with my teeth being slightly stained.