The kids and I all had dentist appoinments today and no cavaties!!! YEAH! Especially since last November you might remember Randy had 6! Anyway, I asked the dentist about my front teeth and what we could do about the stains on them. I've had these stains forever. Really, I can't remember my teeth NOT being stained. I've had dentists say it was because I grew up with well water. I don't know if it is or not, but I've always been self concious about my teeth. It doesn't help when a 4yo says, "Miss Cathy, your teeth are dirty." So he asked if I'd ever tried bleaching them and I said no. I've been told in the past (by other dentists) that it looks like the stain is below the surface and they'd basically have to use micro-abrasion (sand blast) to get to the stain, and even then it may not work. My dentist recomended I try the Crest Whitening Strips first, but it they don't work he recomends bonding. I've done a little research on line, but does anyone have any experience with this? It would only be my two front teeth and my co-pay would be about $25 a tooth. I also found that he could probably fix a small chip on my front tooth while he's at it. I'm going to try the whitening strips and if they don't work I'm looking at doing this in December when I go for my next check up. It's exciting to think I can finally have nice, white teeth without it costing me a fortune! Thanx for any btdt's.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 06:30 pm:

let me know how the strips work. I quit smoking when I got pregnant with my ds, but had smoked for 10 years so my teeth look horrible.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 07:16 pm:

I have bonding on four of my front teeth. If you can get your insurance to cover it and get it done for $25 bucks per tooth out of pocket - then go for it!

Mine is over 15 years old and still looks good.

Ame

By Tink on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 12:45 am:

This is wonderful. I have one of my front teeth done and it is beautiful. Make sure you get a good color match and it will look so natural. You may end up wanting more of your teeth done. I know I do!

By Feona on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 06:05 am:

Sounds good. very non invasive....

By Conni on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 09:12 am:

I guess I dont know what dental bonding is exactly. I have porcelain veneers on my front teeth. I just had them bleached last Fall and then had the veneers put on this spring. My dentist did a really good job. (if I do say so myself-lol) The veneers I had on before were done by a really lousy dentist 15 yrs ago--my teeth looked awful and i was very self conscious about smiling.

So my first piece of advice to you would be--make sure you see some work your dentist has done (before and after pictures or something).

Otherwise, if it is going to make you feel better and make your smile pretty and white. You will never regret having it done! Go for it!

Cat when I was a kid I always was embarrassed about my smile. I had a gap between my front teeth that people always made fun of. My parents could never afford to get me braces (ok they just didnt want to pay for them). So I always swore as soon as I could I would get my teeth fixed. I did, but the dentist didnt do a good job. So I had to wait another 15 yrs to go to a good dentist. lol Oh well, I finally feel better.

I refuse to let my kids grow up without braces. I will work 3 jobs if I have to, in order to help them have a pretty smile that they will be proud of.

Isnt it funny how childhood can affect us??? LOL

Good luck!! And have fun.

By Conni on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 09:14 am:

BTW--I would like to know how the strips work also.

I had trays made for my teeth at the dentist and then they gave me some type of strong rembrandt (i think) bleaching gel. I had to use them for a few minutes at night. It worked really well!!!!! It was very strong. Of course I drink coffee--so the white will soon be yellow/brown again on my teeth! lol ;)

By Babysitbarb on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 11:12 am:

my 15 year old DD had this done last fall. She has been through braces and had a beautiful bite she just needed the white front teeth to match it. She had a very high fever when she was an infant and she lost a lot of the enamel from her teeth. She has also had braces.The dentist and Orthodonists told us bleaching wouldn't work. So they also had her do the crest white strips and then did the bonding. It looks so nice. He told us it should last 10 15 years. She did have to have to have a little repair done at the beginning but, other then that it still loooks nice. We are in the process of putting braces back on again because her mouth was still so very crowded and she just had her wisdom teeth removed(Should have been done the first time) and braces are going back on.

By Cat on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 06:33 pm:

Thanx for the feedback. Sounds like this is a good thing. I had dh check the price on base yesterday and at the commissary the white strips were $23. I'm going to wait for Sunday's paper because they usually have coupons. If not I'll go ahead and get them and try for a couple weeks. We'll see how they work and if I'm still not happy I'll do the bonding in December--if I can wait that long! I'd like to get them sooner. Maybe I'll see if the dentist can get me in next month. I've just had stained teeth forever and this is exciting for me! I know, I'm pathetic! lol Anyway, thanx again.