I got free teeth whitening, but now I’m getting concerned about the fillings in my front teeth. The fillings are 4 years old and although they still look white with my current tooth color, what will happen after I use the gel. Is it okay to use the gel even though I have the white fillings? Thanks. Raven
Ensure your teeth are healthy before using free teeth whitening
Raven – There are a few things to keep in mind when using bleaching gel on teeth that have fillings.
White fillings won’t prevent you from being a candidate for teeth whitening. Of course, the bleaching gel will whiten your teeth, but not your fillings.
After your whitening treatment is complete and your teeth are as white as you want them, if the fillings are noticeable, they can be replaced. If the fillings are too dark, a cosmetic dentist can use dental composite to replace them. Composite will be mixed to match the shade of your bright smile.
It’s best to wait a few weeks until the color of your teeth has stabilized to ensure the dentist makes a good match.
If you anticipate needing cosmetic dentistry (e.g, porcelain crowns, dental bonding), it should be completed after your teeth are whitened. The restorations can be made to match the color of your teeth. Otherwise, the restorations will be darker than your bleached teeth.
Caution before Using Free Teeth Whitening
Before whitening of any kind is used, it’s best to consider the following factors:
Ensure you’ve had a recent dental cleaning and exam.
Your teeth and gums should be healthy and free of decay.
Bleaching gel can irritate unhealthy teeth or gums and cause inflammation.
Depending on the cause of stains in your teeth, bleaching gel can make them more noticeable.
Follow the instructions to avoid overbleaching your teeth. Too many whitening sessions, or sessions that are too long, can make your teeth brittle and discolored.
I have been trying some cheap and free teeth whitening techniques to try to even out my smile some. For the past six months or so, I’ve noticed my teeth have developed some white spots on them. I wanted to get rid of the spots or make them blend in more. I tried special toothpastes and strips, but none of those were working, so I finally went and saw a dentist who was offering free teeth whitening treatments to all new patients. We went through the whole thing and I followed their instructions exactly. Well, my teeth seem a little brighter, but the spots look brighter too. I called the office and the woman told me that spots like I have won’t respond to bleaching and that I should have known that before I started. How could I have possibly known if they didn’t tell me? I have to wonder if it’s possible that they were just using a fake gimmick to get people in the dental office. If, however, they are being truthful and the spots can’t be fixed this way, where exactly does that leave me in terms of fixing the problem? Thanks. Kris
Kris,
Free teeth whitening should be dentist supervised
Sorry to hear you’re having so much trouble with spots on your teeth. It sounds like decalcification might be the problem. The dental office should have let you know the results you could expect before your free teeth whitening treatment started, but all is not lost. Let’s discuss what’s happening.
A Balanced Mouth Is a Healthy Mouth
Ideally, natural teeth are in a pH-balanced environment, bathing in mineral-laden saliva. In everyday life, intake acid food and drink that disturb the pH balance. Health conditions like acid reflux or bulimia introduce even more acid, and certain medications reduce the amount of saliva in our mouths. We get plaque buildup and feed bacteria in our mouths with sugary foods, which also upsets the pH balance.
Decalcification Occurs When Minerals Leave Your Teeth
The enamel on your teeth is incredibly tough when it’s healthy, but when your mouth isn’t balanced, the minerals start to leak. They’re in a constant state of flux; losing minerals and then gaining minerals from your saliva and diet. If you’re really good about brushing and flossing and don’t have health concerns, yet eat a lot of sugar or consume a lot of acidic things, your teeth will naturally remineralize on their own. But when your teeth have significant mineral loss, white spots, also known as decalcification, will develop.
Decalcification Is Often Called Pre-Cavity
The white spots on a tooth are not as strong as the rest of the tooth structure. Many dentists refer to them as pre-cavities, though precarious lesion is the more clinical term for it. Some people do believe you can heal those spots by correcting the imbalance and making sure you’re getting the minerals you need. There are specialty products on the market that claim to remineralize teeth. Unfortunately, there’s little evidence to support this. Those spots typically become cavities. If you’re really diligent and follow a good care regimen (your dentist may have specific suggestions to help you), then you may be able to delay decay for an extended period of time- perhaps even years.
Your Dentist Will Need to Repair the Spots
Often, dentists will want to repair the spots before they become cavities.
Depending on the severity of yours, there may be minimally-invasive options, such as abrasion. Teeth are usually repaired just like cavities.
You’ll need an evaluation from your dentist to find out which options are best. As for the free teeth whitening you received, it was probably legit, but it won’t get rid of the white spots or even tooth color. However, dentists usually recommend that you have whitening done before any restorative work, because bleaching gel won’t brighten filling materials or veneers. If you did want a brighter smile overall, the whitening helped, but you need alternate treatment to correct the white spots.
This blog is sponsored by Dr. Miranda Lacy. Dr. Lacy’s Plano free teeth whitening for life program includes free whitening gel for patients of the practice who keep their regular cleaning and exam appointments.
Hi, I am getting 4 new crowns in April. I received some free teeth whitening. I want to get my as white as I can before I get the crowns. Will you please tell me how many weeks I should do the touch up and how long I should keep the gel on each time? Keva
Keva – It concerns us that you didn’t receive details from your dentist on how to effectively whiten your teeth before you receive your crowns. This is something a dentist usually discusses with patients in detail as part of your treatment plan.
Before You Use Free Teeth Whitening
Our first concern is the source of your free teeth-whitening gel. If it wasn’t received from a dentist or a reputable company, your teeth may not get white, or the gel could actually damage your teeth.
Assuming that you’ve receive professional bleaching gel, there are several factors to consider.
How white do you what your teeth to be? That will affect the number of weeks you use your free teeth whitening. Your teeth will become increasingly whiter the longer you do the touch-up. The pace of the whitening will get slower as time goes on, but your teeth will continue to brighten.
How sensitive are your teeth? The sensitivity of your teeth to the bleaching gel is also a factor. Your teeth and gums can be irritated from the bleaching gel. Usually for daytime whitening, you would leave the gel on at least 20 to 30 minutes. If you sleep with the whitening trays on your teeth, the gel is less inhibited by saliva slow while you sleep, and the whitening will be more effective. Be careful with high-strength bleaching gel. If it’s used overnight, it might irritate your gums and teeth.
Your teeth will continue to whiten for a while after you stop treatments. Oxygen bubbles from the bleaching gel continue to whiten your teeth for approximately two weeks after your touch-up treatment is complete. Complete the touch-up at least a full two weeks before receiving your porcelain crowns.
You’ll need to do touch-ups. Touch-ups are needed to keep your smile bright. Certain food and drinks like coffee, tea, and berries can stain your teeth, so the touch-ups will remove the stains.
A dentist with strong cosmetic dentistry experience will ensure that your touch-ups are correctly done before you receive your crowns. He or she will also ensure that your crowns perfectly match your natural teeth.
I’m feeling really burned by a free tooth whitening offer I found online. The deal was that if I only paid shipping, this company would send me a free trial of their whitening pen. I figured they were able to give the free teeth whitening kits out because people would order the full-sized version when it worked, so I paid almost $20 for shipping. I followed the instructions, but nothing is happening. I e-mailed the company a week ago, but they aren’t responding back, and now I’m pretty sure I got scammed. I guess it’s not so much the money, but the fact that I trusted them. Is there something more I should be doing with the kit that might improve its effectiveness? Do I have any recourse with the company? Thanks, Marcus
Marcus,
It’s tough to say if you should be doing something different with your free teeth-whitening kit, because you haven’t provided the name of the company or the product, nor have you said how you’re using it. Generally speaking, anything you can get over-the-counter is weak. Sometimes, it’s totally ineffective. If you aren’t getting it from a trusted supplier, you can’t tell if it is safe and effective.
Depending on where the company is based, you may have no real recourse. If it’s not in the United States, your money is probably gone. You can try to dispute the charge with your credit card company, but this company may still get away with it because you only paid for the shipping. The product was free, and the shipping wasn’t the problem, so they may have found a way against scam controls. The only way to find out if you can have the charge erased is to call your credit card company and ask to file a complaint.
How to Get Legit Free Tooth Whitening
Go Local: Only get free teeth-whitening products from a local and trusted source. You can follow up easily if there’s a problem.
Choose a Professional: Over-the-counter products tend to be weak. You have to use them a lot to see any difference. If you want rapid results, you need professional-strength products, only available through medical and dental professionals.
Talk to Your Dentist: Many dentists offer a free teeth-whitening program to new patients. Ask if your dentist’s office does something similar. While it’s designed to attract new patients, the office may consider giving you the package anyway, just to keep you happy. If that isn’t an option, they may have a low-cost solution that will give you the results you need in a safe and effective way.
This post is sponsored by Plano dentist Dr. Miranda Lacy.
My new dentist gives patients free teeth whitening after their second dental cleaning appointment. I don’t want to bleach my teeth because I have crowns on 2 teeth and I don’t want my own teeth to be whiter than the crowns. I can’t use the whitening and the office doesn’t do substitutions for other services. My husband is interested in whitening his teeth and he doesn’t have any crowns or anything to worry about. The lady at the front desk at the dentist’s office was hesitant when I mentioned that I would just give the kit to my husband, and then she told me that the kits are only for active patients of my dentist. Is there any reason why he shouldn’t use it or were they just trying to keep the kit and save money because I can’t use it? Thanks Gemma
Gemma,
Even if the teeth whitening kit is free, a professional kit from a dentist is customized for each patient. Bleaching trays are made based on impressions of your teeth to ensure they fit well and provide the best results. It sounds like your husband isn’t a patient at your dentist’s office. Otherwise, he would eventually receive a free whitening kit of his own.
The kit would be incomplete without customized trays for your husband. This puts him at risk for getting not enough—or too much—bleaching gel on his teeth and gums. Store-bought bleaching trays are not a reliable and effective way to put the bleaching gel in contact with his teeth.
Before teeth whitening is completed, an examination is needed to determine if bleaching will help or harm your husband’s teeth. In some cases, the gel will make stains on teeth more noticeable. If your husband is a candidate for whitening, he should have a professional dental cleaning first. This will make the whitening treatments more effective. Still, he needs professional whitening trays.
As a suggestion, your husband can ask his dentist about whether or not free teeth whitening is available, or how it can be made affordable for him. Many dentists are willing to work with patients to make a bright smile affordable.
I got free teeth whitening a couple of months ago and I think that it is started to damage my tooth enamel. My teeth are starting to a weird color. Also they are super sensitive to anything cold. Sometimes even if I am not drinking anything cold, I get this powerful shock in my teeth that really hurts. I took ibuprofen last night and that seemed to help. At first I really thought the stuff was working because my teeth looked whiter. Now they don’t look or feel good. I guess I should stop using it. Can it permanently damage my tooth enamel? Thanks. Joseph
Joseph – You should stop using the free teeth whitening. You didn’t mention how often you use the whitening gel, but if you are using it more than once a month, you are probably using it too often.
Any type of bleaching gel, if used frequently, can weaken your tooth enamel and even discolor your teeth. If bleaching gel is professional strength, usually touchup treatments are needed once or twice a year. If you smoke or drink daily, touchups may need to be more frequent, perhaps quarterly.
But bleaching your teeth daily or weekly should be avoided. Teeth whitening treatments that are unsupervised by a dentist can damage your tooth enamel. Your teeth can become translucent and very sensitive.
Schedule an appointment with a dentist to examine your teeth and to look at the ingredients in the bleaching gel you are using. The dentist will be able to determine if your free teeth whitening gel is causing the sensitivity in your teeth and if it has done any lasting damage to your teeth.
Some dentists offer free teeth whitening or discounted teeth whitening to patients who maintain their regular cleaning and examination appointments. This is a safe way to brighten your smile and get predictable results. Your dentist will monitor the progress and decrease or increase the strength of the bleaching gel, depending on how it is affecting your teeth. He or she will also let you know how frequently you should do touchups.
Schedule an examination with an experienced cosmetic dentist as soon as possible.
This post is sponsored by Plano dentist Dr. Miranda Lacy.
I have been looking for ways to whiten my teeth for free or cheap. I guess nothing is free but I found some DIY ways to get it done. I know that baking soda can whiten teeth but I found a few sites that said that fresh lemon juice can make the baking soda more effective. I have been trying it for a couple of weeks but my teeth only look a little whiter. It is very slight. I told a friend about what I was doing and she asked me if the acid from the lemons will eventually mess up my teeth. I just did some more research and I think she might be right, but the information conflicts what was recommended in the first place. Is adding the fresh lemon juice to the baking soda harmful? Agapi
Agapi – Acid erodes tooth enamel. Citrus fruits, including lemons, are acidic. Lemons are highly acidic, and if regularly applied to your teeth, will cause damage your tooth enamel and cause decay. Your teeth won’t have the whiteness and gloss that you want.
Citric acid is often contained in cleaning products, which gives you an idea of how powerful it is. It’s also in soda, which can erode your tooth enamel with contact and create excess stomach acid. Excess stomach acid can create acid reflux, which can further damage your teeth.
It is recommended that you thoroughly rinse your mouth after you eat or drink acidic foods, and drink plenty of water. And definitely stay away from the lemon juice on your teeth. Avoid brushing your teeth right after consuming acidic foods or drinks.
It’s good that you listened to your friend and did extra research on the effects of lemon juice on your teeth. Talk with your dentist about how to affordably and safely get your teeth whitened. Some dentists offer free whitening if you stay current with dental cleanings. It’s the best way to keep your teeth enamel and get a bright smile.
I got 6 boxes of free teeth whitening with an online purchase. It sounded exciting because I’ve always wanted to whiten my teeth, but I wasn’t sure if it was worth it to spend $30 to $40 dollars on strips. I started using the free ones 6 weeks ago. For the first 2 weeks, I started wearing them every night for 30 minutes just as the instructions said I should but I didn’t see any results. So I bumped up the time to an hour for and I am still not seeing anything different. I want to stretch out the time that I wear them and I am wondering if it’s okay to wear them for the whole night. Thx Kip
Kip – You should only wear the whitening strips for the instructed time. If you wear them overnight, unless they are made to stay secure, they will probably come off of your teeth. Even if you receive teeth bleaching gel from a dentist, it should only we kept in contact with your teeth for the amount of time instructed.
Keeping whitening strips or bleaching gel in contact with your teeth for too long can burn your gums or cause your teeth to become very sensitive. It is possible to over-whiten your teeth, which can cause discoloring.
If you have been using whitening strips for six weeks and have seen no results at all, they probably aren’t any good at all. Although whitening strips will brighten your teeth more slowly than whitening from the dentist, you should see some improvement.
It is not unusual for free teeth bleaching kits not to work at all, unless you receive free whitening from a dentist. If you want whitening strips that work, it’s best to buy some that contain carbamide peroxide. This is the whitening ingredient in professional gel, but the strips will contain less of it.
Have you asked your dentist about teeth whitening? Some dentists provide it to customers who keep their regularly scheduled appointments for cleanings and exams. If your dentist doesn’t provide it you may be surprised at how he or she can make it affordable for you.
I got a free teeth whitening kit. They trays are supposed to be one size fits all but for some reason they cut my gums either when I put them on or take them off. They haven’t cut my gums every time, but last night the cut was pretty bad and it bled for about 15 minutes. My gums still hurt and now I am afraid to put the trays back on because I think the gel will burn on the cut. Is there a way I can smooth out the edges on the trays so they fit right? Thanks. Aleis
Aleis – We don’t recommend that you try to adjust or smooth the trays. If you trim the trays too much, even after your gums heal, the bleaching gel can burn your gums overall because the gel will spill out over the edges.
We do recommend that you discontinue using the trays and get properly fitting trays from your dentist. The trays from your dentist will not be one-size-fits all trays. They will be based on impressions of your teeth and be customized to ensure that you get maximum results from bleaching gel.
Many patients hesitate to ask for teeth whitening from their dentist because of the cost. But you don’t know until you ask. You may be surprised at how your dentist will work with your budget to make teeth whitening affordable for you. Some dentists even offer free teeth whitening. Find out what options your dentist offers patients to safely brighten your smile.
I have a 2 yr old crown that looks really good. There is nothing at all wrong with it. It looked like one of my own teeth until I whitened my teeth this month. I didn’t think about it before I did it. I found a good whitening kit online with professional strength whitening and my teeth are beautifully white but now the crown looks dull next to them. Can a dentist lighten the crown? – Cyndee
Cyndee – When teeth are whitened after a crown is received, the crown won’t match the teeth. If you had been able to speak with your dentist about the whitening, he or she would have helped you anticipate what to expect with your teeth whitening.
The color of a porcelain crown is stabilized and can’t be altered. But if you really want a crown to match your teeth, a cosmetic dentist can provide you with a new crown.
This post is sponsored by Plano dentist Dr. Miranda Lacy.
