Pearly Whites:
That Certain Something

Aired on Superstation WGN
Saturday, January 22 and March 5, 2005
Show 203

Smile, you're on Health Corner! Americans love their teeth and with everything from chewing gum to laser treatments available to make your smiles bright white, how do you know which to choose? You can get whitening chewing gum for the price of chewing gum. And while they may prevent new stains from forming, they're whitening power is questionable. Whitening toothpaste helps prevent new stains and may even remove some of the old ones. They won't change the intrinsic color of your teeth. There are several good over the counter treatments that work pretty well and cost 70 to 80 percent less than whitening treatments from your dentist. If you're going to pick up one at the local drug store, compare the ingredients. Your dentist can fit you with custom whitening trays you could take home, which typically runs a few hundred dollars. The up side, it's fairly inexpensive to buy more bleach down the road, and reuse the same trays to touch-up your teeth. The Cadillac of teeth whitening is an in office laser treatment. You may pay 400 dollars or more, but you'll see a huge difference immediately. So smile, both at home and in office whitening treatments do work. Just weigh your options. Easy and fast will cost a bit more, but if you want beauty on a budget, there are plenty of products that will give you That Certain Something.