City Geisha

Recently, a gym buddy of mine came strolling into our weekly boxing class sporting a blindingly Hollywood WHITE smile. I have always been on the lookout for the newest procedure out there to whiten teeth, be it gum trays, strips or professional whitening. My teeth are by no means yellow, in fact they’re quite white and most would say that people will use me as their template at their dentist and say “Give me THAT shade“.

I”ve always been a bit of a Teeth Nazi…I have been a faithful disciple of all whitening products, name it, and I have tried it: whitening toothpaste, Crest Whitestrips, gum shields and have also had one bout of professional whitening done back in 2005 when I visited Vietnam for the first time (I don’t know what method it was because they did not speak English and I don’t speak my own native language all that well! Hanging my head down in shame…). I brush  my teeth at least 4 times a day, mainly after meals and after having drunken coffee or coke.  I don’t smoke nor do I drink red wine. As such, my teeth have always been in good condition–white and straight…the latter is the result of having had to wear braces for a year and a half back in high school.

Yet, as the saying goes, we always want more, we always want better.  The GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER.

Which is my case and so after our workout, I cornered X (you know who you are! xoxo) and she told me that she had gone for Zoom Whitening, which is the most powerful professional method you can get possible at the dentist to date. It involves smearing a hydrogen peroxide gel onto your “smile” teeth and then aiming a laser light onto your them for an hour, with frequent re-applications of the gel in between.  Your gums and lips are covered with a special material for protection and you are given a pair of googles to wear. The pain (sensitivity felt during and after, up to 24 hrs later)  varies from person to person..basically if you have thin/weak enamel, the gel will penetrate deeper but with the benefit of having your teeth whitened to within an inch of their life. Whereas those with stronger enamel will indeed see a difference but results may not be as blindingly white as the former group. Murphy’s Law!

In my case,  the dentist took a look at my teeth during the consultation and proclaimed “But your teeth are white already” to which I shouted “But I want really really SUPER WHITE teeth!” (have you seen that Friends episode where Ross gets his teeth whitened and they literally shone in the dark when the lights went off?? Funny eh? Well I was aiming for something like that, believe it or not, I’m an extreme sort of gal…). So she proceeded to apply the gel and to cut to the chase, when 60 minutes were up, I was told to rinse out my mouth. I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that there was a difference…but disappointingly my teeth were not Ross-blindingly white….I was then explained that my enamel is strong and thick (which is great!) but not so great when it comes to whitening as the barrier is just too strong.  Which further explains the lack of sentivity/pain I experienced which  most patients usually suffer from.

Anyhoo, I had taken before and after photos:

Very slight difference, eh? Oh well, I didn’t waste that much money because the treatment was on sale at 50% off, which was the main reason why I hastily went for it in the first place. I literally booked my appointment the next day (Tuesday) after having spoken to my gym buddy  (Monday) and had the treatement done on Wednesday.

From now on, I think I will stick to home treatments; I’ve got my eyes set on Idol White, a treatment endorsed my Kim Kardashian. Read my earlier post by clicking here. It is just tooo easy to use…..Not only that, but did I mention the indescribable boredom as I sat there  in the dentist chair staring at the ceiling for a whole hour?? For someone who finds it hard to sit still, this was an archaic form of torture.

Zoom Whitening will work well on those with stained teeth and/or weak enamel. So it kinda pays to rot your teeth, I guess. Heheh. =)

xoxo