Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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275 of 278 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Dentist Reviews This Product, August 23, 2005
I am a dentist who recommends Crest White Strips to my patients because they do work to whiten teeth. However, they have to be used correctly and I recommend that you follow the directions exactly as specified inside the box.
1. First brush your teeth to remove the layer of plaque. Your teeth have pores and the pores need to be open for the chemical to penetrate.
2. Use the strips twice per day for maximum efectiveness as stated on the box. The inner part of the strip has a chemical called carbamide peroxide (a 10% form of hydrogen peroxide; in-office dental whitening uses a 15-30% version of the same chemical) that causes the stains inside your teeth to be oxidized and turn white. Applying the strips has a small learning curve as you will probably bend or fold a couple of them before you get the technique down.
2. Leave the strips on for 30 minutes at a time. After thirty minutes your saliva has probably diluted the peroxide to the extent that it is no longer effective. You can reapply a new strip immediately if you chose, for the treatment requires one hour of treatment time per day to work. It does not matter if you do this in one continuous 60-minute period or two 30-minute periods. Do this for two weeks and your teeth will get whiter.
Disadvantages
1. The chemical can and probably will "burn" your gums. If you notice a burning sensation when you use the product, it is the chemical oxidizing (or burning) your gums. Depending on how severe the burning is, it may cause you to want to stop the treatment. It is OK to stop the treatment for a day or two to let the gums heal. Once they are normal again, resume treatment with the White Strips. Try to not ge the strip on your gums.
2. Your teeth may become senstiive during the two-week treatment time. Try to tolerate the sensitivity if it is mild, but if more severe, take a day or two off to let the teeth settle down and then pick up where you left off. You may notice much more sensitivity to cold water, ice cream, etc. The peroxide causes an inflamation of the inner pulp, or nerve center of the tooth and makes the teeth very sensitive to biting or cold drinks or foods. If your teeth become too sensitive, back off on the strips until the sensitivity is gone before resuming bleaching.
3. The strips only cover your front teeth, so only your front teeth will bleach. You may notice the distinct difference between the back (unbleached) teeth and the front (bleached) teeth. Since most people notice the front 6 teeth anyway, this is not a big deal. However, if you have a wide toothy smile, you may want to have a dentist make you a tray that will hold the chemical on the back teeth to whiten them too.
3. The bleaching effect works best on yellow stains. If your stains are due to tetracycline (brownish grey stains in a band on your teeth, your best bet is to have a dentist whiten your teeth as the dentist will use a tray to hold a more concentrated form of the chemical on your teeth for a longer period of time. A dentist may also recommend an ultraviolet light bleaching which is costly, but works the best on these stains.
Crest White Strips work for the vast majority of people. They don't work as well or as fast as a dentist-made custom try bleaching, but over time, you will get a result that will be close to that of a dentist, and you will save money too. In any event, it is a good place to start with bleaching, and if you are not satisfied with the results, you can then see your dentist for a more concentrated form of bleaching.
The "Plus" designation of this product means you get three extra sets of strips compared to the regular box.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig, DDS
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104 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great product but pointless, July 2, 2005
Crest Whitestrips is an incredible product. It is virtually the same hydrogen peroxide bleaching solution that dentists use. It's amazing how much whiter they make your teeth after only a few days. I've been using them for a couple of years and decided to try the new "Whitestrips Premium PLUS." This product is exactly the same as the regular Whitestrips Premium, except the box it comes in has a window and it comes with 3 extra days of strips. The regular Whitestrips takes 7 days and this takes 10. After 7 days, your teeth are pretty much as white as they're going to get, and I didn't notice much of a difference from the additional 3 days. The "Plus" in the product's name seems to refer more to the much higher cost of this product.
If you're thinking about getting this, just realize that all it is is three more strips, so when you figure out how much you're being charged per strip, you may find you're paying considerably more for these poer strip than the regular Whitestrips Premium.
That being said, the strips are a great product and if you get them, make sure you buy some toothpaste for sensitive teeth because this product WILL make your teeth feel like they're on fire. It's definitely worth it though.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What the Plus Really Means--18 months vs 12 months, January 4, 2007
Several people complained that they thought getting 3 extra strips for the extra $$ was pointless, or led them to give this product fewer stars. In actuality, the PLUS is because this product whitens your teeth up to 18 months, while the standard Premium product is only efective for 12 months. This is also why you use this one for 10 days rather than 7. You actually are getting 50% longer effectiveness for about 20% extra money. To me, that makes a lot of sense!
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