I am thinking of doing a bit of whitening and wondering what’s the best OTC product you have tried?
Crest white strips, and I pay for the more costly ones that are supposed to stick better. I think they definitely work, but next time I want to buy the dentist grade whitening gel to use in trays. My mom and S used those, and the results were definitely quicker and whiter. I’m in braces now and my teeth have definitely yellowed the 18 months I’ve been in them.
Don’t pay dentists mega $$$ for laser procedures or trays. I made that mistake… Never again! The six months or high sensitivity brought by the procedure were plain hell. Crest strips are said to be the best and work in a similar manner… I can’t use them either because they make my teeth very sensitive, but luckily for me, that effect from the strips was short-lived (unlike the evil dental office procedure).
I did the expensive dentist thing and it didn’t even work that well. And like BB, my teeth were so sensitive afterwards, I was in a cold sweat for days. Would NEVER EVER do it again.
Not everyone has that reaction though…
I used the strips for awhile. Now I use the daily whitening rinse, twice a day when I think of it. I’m very please with how white my teeth have stayed. 
I was using the dentist gel in trays and my teeth started getting translucent. It was a little disconcerting. I occasionally use the crest strips now, but I don’t overdo it for fear of getting that effect again 
I have used the dentist gel trays. I had tetracycline as a kid so OTC wasn’t the way to go. I didn’t have any sensitivity problems but my teeth will never be a white as others that use the dentist trays.
There’s a MI paste/pro-enamel type toothpaste stuff our dentist sells, ~$20/tube. It is to strengthen enamel. It really helps my whitening sensitivity issues if I brush it on teeth and gums before doing the whitening.
@sryrstress – if the end of your ortho treatment includes those clear retainers, you can use the whitening gel from the dentist in the retainers.
I have used the gel from the dentist in trays I had made up, on and off for past 15 years. I probably only use them once a month, just to combat the endless iced tea staining.
If you had tetracycline as a kid, no whitening - dentist or OTC - will help.
I had trays made a year before the strips came out. I’ve always had decent luck with them. My boys use the more expensive crest strips about once a year and their teeth look great. They said they are so much better than the regular ones.
@BunsenBurner — is that limitation restricted to tetracycline alone? Older son has been on a few different antibiotics for acne, but has never tried to whiten his teeth.
It appears to be limited to mostly tetracycline and analogs:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15485524
The darkening is due to the pigment from the drug embedding into calcifying tissues such as teeth.
Crest Luxe in the blue box or the white box “with light”- which is the more expensive and good one?
I do have some trays, I bought the gel on a Groupon once, but am not sure about where to get more gel.
You may think it’s crazy, but I have found coconut oil pulling works fantastically well for me. It’s better than when I had my teeth whitened by dentists and when I’ve used OTC whiteners (Crest and others). Plus, I like how fresh it makes my mouth feel and how it’s natural. Win, win, win for me. Oh, and it’s cheap. Another win. My mom even misunderstood me when I explained how to do it and so did it wrong, and she still was pleased with the difference in her teeth.
If you’re curious, just google “coconut oil pulling.”
@BunsenBurner - It worked for me and yes I had tetracycline as a kid. It took longer than normal people though. Also my teeth weren’t stained as bad as a lot of the pictures out on the internet. I think it depends what color and how much your teeth are stained to start with.
Your teeth probably were very mildly stained to begin with and also had more than tetracycline stain going on… Wine, berries, coffee, etc. that stuff is what bleaching targets: organic compounds. I am not aware of any
bleaching technique that will remove tetracycline stains which have a different chemical nature.
@myloves What do you use for coconut oil? Just regular grocery store coconut cooking oil? Thanks!
The only problem I have with that is the recommendation to swish it in your mouth for 10-20 * MINUTES. * Ye Gods!
I guess you could do it in the morning when you shower. What else is there to do while you’re washing your hair and sleepy self?
The important caveat is to be sure to spit out oil into trash so it doesn’t clog drain when it hardens.