Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

A question about : Advice on Teeth Whitening Discussion Thread

I want to whiten my teeth. I already use tooth whitening toothpase (reputable brands like arm & hammer) twice a day but they could be whiter.

I looked in boots today and tooth whitening/bleaching kits are about Ј9 onwards.

Does anybody know of a cheaper way?

Baking soda is always in the cupboard but can it be used on it's own or will I spend thenext few days being sick?

Best answers:

• nope pick some up on your wet toothbrush and brush away
  you will have noticably sparkly toofypegs in days
  ;D
• Has anyone else tried this? Is it still effective if you are already using whitening toothpaste?
  Will give it a go - realise I am sounding like a doubting Thomas.
  Bought a tub of bicarb yesterday to clean with so may as well try the teeth technique as well.
• yes, me, and my son's as hes a great big coward and let his teeth go, when he eventually went to the dentist and got sorted, they cleaned and polished his teeth but they were definately yellow. he has lovely teeth as well, so I offered to pay the Ј500 to have them prof whitened for his next 100 birthday presents.
  in the meantime he used the bicarb and after a couple of weeks there was no need for the treatment
  tastes disgusting so just try to keep it on the teeth
• by the way#
  my dentist said that tooth whitening paste is just toothpaste with bicarb in it!
  so it shouldnt interfere
• Like the sound of this! Roughly how long does it take to make a noticeable difference? Am really conscious about my off-white teeth. :-[
• bout a week if you brush three times a day and for a long time 4 mins or so. each time
  sons was noticable in a week and gleaming white in a month they started to get sensitive then so he stopped and does them two or three times a week now with the bicarb
• It tastes less horrid if you mix a couple of drops of peppermint oil in it (Mix well though) - or if you add pulverised dried sage leaves to the bicarb (I am about to experiment with this so wish me luck).
  Caterina
• I'm going to try this
  Hopefully in a few weeks we will have big white smilies ;D ;D ;D
• My dentist told me not to bother with expensive toothpastes or toothbrushes, just use whatever was cheapest/on special offer & brush at least 1 minute longer than you think you need to. He also told me not to bother with whiteing toothpaste as it contins nothing different except regular bicarb in the mix, but to dab my toothpasted brush in the bicarb before I brush, that way the toothpaste takes away some of the bicarb flavour & you get the same effect. I drink lots of tea & had heavily stained teeth, am seeing some effect now after 2 months but have only been using the bicarb once a day as I have sensative gums.
• mmm will give this a try i think. hate paying lots for expensive toothpaste.
• I've always been a bit wary of these whitining things 'cos I've got several crowns and I don't want to end up with different shades of teeth! Not that I'm vain or anything!!! :-/
• just tried the bi-carb+ordinary toothpaste thing...makes teeth feel V-E-R-Y clean! Thanks for the tip ;D ;D
• I made my experiment yesterday but used dried mint rather than sage (sage still too fresh to crumble).
  Mixed 4 tablespoons of bicarb with a large pinch of dried and pulverised peppermint leaves. Added 2 drops of peppermint oil and 4 drops of tea tree oil (antiseptic).
  Put on the toothbrush and cleaned my teeth, then asked my teenage daughter (who has no qualms in telling me the hard truth) if my breath is ok.
  She loved it so much that now she is using my concoction too, and so is my son and his friend, whose teeth are going yellow for too much junk food!
  Caterina
• will be giving that a bash then caterina. wondered if my kids'd use it but if theres nothing else they'll have too.
• WARNING!!! Don't do the bi-carb+toothpaste thingy immediately after eating very vinegary pickled onions!!! Looked like I had rabies : : : :-/
• OHHH gotta give that a try! It will be fun to see my kids' faces!
  Caterina
• if only I'd had the camera handy
• mmm think will have to try that when brother comes to stay, feed him them just before bed, then tell him to try my new toothpaste. lol.