Teeth whitening before braces?

Message

#1 Post by **rallen043** » Tue May 22, 2007 8:05 am

I am getting lowers on next week and was going to whiten the top ones to help me feel a little more confident about my smile once the lowers go on. Do you think it would be ok to whiten the lowers too? I was going to do the Rembrant white strips. Does anyone know of a reason that it would be a bad idea?

#2 Post by **alliphd** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:30 am

I was also thinking of whitening both of mine before I get my ceramic uppers and metal lowers, and I had the same question.

I plan to use Crest Whitestrips though, as I've had success with them several times before.

#3 Post by **cally** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:49 am

I think, but don't know if this is true, that whitening kits tend to make the teeth more porous, and that takes a while to "shrink back down" after whitening. If you put cement on porous teeth, it's not a good thing. Sorry for not knowing all correct jargon!

In any case, I've also heard it's not recommended.

Cally

#4 Post by **rallen043** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:58 am

I think I will play it safe and just wait till they come off to whiten.

#5 Post by **jalapeno** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:00 pm

Once they are on you'll most likely find you are much less self-conscious about it than you thought you'd be.

#6 Post by **Laurie** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:05 pm

Plus if your teeth are as crooked as mine those little strips are hard to get on correctly. I'd save my money for afterwards also.

#7 Post by **alliphd** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:02 pm

Thanks all! I think I will probably opt against it, as my teeth aren't terribly discolored. My teeth are pretty tiny anyway, and I imagine the brackets will take up enough of each tooth that you won't be able to tell at all what's underneath.