Interesting little piece of information for you here, courtesy of my dental hygienist. She likes a good chat, albeit a one-way chat because my mouth is always filled with that gritty paste and her polishing tool.
‘Do whitening toothpastes work?’ I asked (that was at about 11.32am. I didn’t speak again until 11.58. I checked.)
She said that no, they didn’t. They can remove stains, but they can’t actually whiten. The only way that you can whiten tooth enamel is with bleach, anything else just makes the teeth appear to be whiter because you are getting rid of the yellowish-brown stains caused by drinking coffee, smoking and general wear-and-tear. What’s more, the ‘whitening’ toothpastes will only remove stains if you are brushing your teeth properly – they have nothing in them that can remove stains just by making ‘contact’ with the surface of the tooth.
She went on to say that there was only one product that she had seen to have a noticeable effect, and that was Crest Whitening Strips. They brighten your smile and are easy to use – you just stick the strips on and leave them for half an hour (whilst you scare the kids/dog/hamster with your plastic blue teeth) and you should see the effects within three days.
I haven’t tried them, but in the name of research, I shall. That’s if the CEOs of the multi-billion-dollar whitening toothpaste industry haven’t had me bumped off.
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