Customer Reviews
Yes, it works! 
2008-02-14
I've seen mixed reviews of tooth whitening systems, but the price of this item made it easy for me to try (some systems are $100).
The first time was the hardest as I found myself drooling and had a hard time keeping the strips in for 30 minutes.
So, I started inserting the strips separately-- the upper strip for 30 min. then the lower strip for 30 min. The drooling improved considerably, and after a couple of days I was able to do both strips at once.
My teeth were noticeably whiter after 3 days, just as advertised, and I'm very very pleased with the results.
yes it works 
2007-12-19
I was a bit sceptical at first, but I really noticed a huge difference in colour in only 3 days. I stopped using the product after 5 days because I liked the results. However the taste is pretty nasty and there was a mild gum-irritation.
A Dentist Reviews This Product 
2007-07-21
I am a dentist who recommends Crest-brand White Strips to my patients becasue they do work to whiten teeth. However, they have to be used correctly and I recommend that you follow the directions exactly as specified inside the box.
1. First brush your teeth with a wet toothbrush to remove the layer of plaque (toothpaste is unnecessary). Rinse your teeth well with water. Tooth enamel has pores, and the pores need to be open for the chemical to penetrate.
2. Use the strips as directed on the box. The instructions will tell you to bleach twice a day for 30-minutes a time. The inner part of the strip has a chemical called hydrogen peroxide; (in-office, or dentist-assisted dental whitening uses a 15-35% version of the same chemical) that causes the stains inside your teeth to be oxidized and turn white. Applying the strips has a small learning curve as you will probably bend or fold a couple of them before you get the technique down.
2. Leave the strips on for the time recommended in the instructions and do not overbleach your teeth, as this leads to sensitivity.
Disadvantages
1. Hydrogen Peroxide can "burn" your gums. If you notice a burning sensation when you use the product, it is the chemical oxidizing (or burning) your gums (it will turn them white with a minor chemical burn). Depending on how severe the burning is, it may cause you to want to stop the treatment. It is OK to stop the treatment for a day or two to let the gums heal. Once they are healed, resume treatment with the White Strips. Try to not get the strip on your gums.
2. Your teeth may become senstiive during the week treatment time. Try to tolerate the sensitivity if it is mild, but if more severe, take a day or two off to let the teeth settle down and then pick up where you left off. You may notice much more sensitivity to cold water, ice cream, etc. The peroxide causes an inflamation of the inner pulp, or nerve center of the tooth and makes the teeth very sensitive to biting or cold drinks or foods. If your teeth become too sensitive, back off on the strips until the sensitivity is gone before resuming bleaching.
3. The strips only cover your front teeth, so only your front teeth will bleach. You may notice the distinct difference between the back (unbleached) teeth and the front (bleached) teeth. Since most people notice the front 6 teeth anyway, this is not a big deal. However, if you have a wide toothy smile, you may want to have a dentist make you a tray that will hold the chemical on the back teeth to whiten them too.
4. The bleaching effect works best on yellow stains. If your stains are due to tetracycline (brownish grey stains in a band on your teeth, your best bet is to have a dentist whiten your teeth as the dentist will use a tray to hold a more concentrated form of the chemical on your teeth for a longer period of time.
Now comes the confusing part: Crest White Strips come in 4 different packages, each a bit different than the others. The main difference is in the strength of the hydrogen peroxide, and the price. The higher the dose of hydrogen peroxide, the most costly the product package. Here are the 4 packages: 1. Crest White Strips Classic (6% hydrogen peroxide, 14-day treatment). 2. Crest White Strips Premium (10% hydrogen peroxide, 7-day treatment). 3. Crest White Strips Premium Plus (10% hydrogen peroxide, and has 12 additional strips). 4. Crest White Strips Renewal (9.5% hydrogen peroxide). The cheapest method (at around 25 dollars, is the Crest Classic Whitestrips, but it takes 2 weeks to complete the treatment). Premium and Premium Pro are both 10% peroxide formulations, work in 7-10 days, and the "Premuim-Plus" gives you 12 additional strips. I am not sure why Crest recently came out with "Renewal", as it is a 9.5% hydrogen peroxide formulation which is not significantly different from the 10% concentration. Leave it to the manufacturer to confuse the consumer!
Crest White Strips work for the vast majority of people. Younger people with yellow stains seem to respond better than older people or those with gray stains. White Strips don't work as fast as a dentist-made custom tray bleaching, (or in-office bleaching) but over time, you will get a result that will be close to that of a dentist, and you will save money too.
I recommend starting with with either the Classic or the Premium-Pro. The Classic works in 2 weeks and is about $1.80 a day. The Premium Pro works in 10 days and is about $2 dollars a day. The Premium and Premium Pro are likely to give you more sensitivity than the Classic.
If you are not satisfied with the results and still want whiter teeth, you can then see your dentist for a more concentrated form of bleaching using a custom-tray system or in-office bleaching. This is much more expensive, but the concentration of hydrogen peroxide is much higher and this works better on stubbornly-stained teeth.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig, DDS
it works!! 2007-07-08
This is my second day using this product and in fact, I have been seeing a little change. My teeth feel good and clean, AND of course, WHITE. It says on the pack not to brush your teeth before using the strips, but it just feels weird not to. So, I brush my teeth before and after using the strips BUT WITHOUT the toothpaste. I use one strip during the day and one before I go to bed. This gives me a feeling of satisfaction with my teeth before going to bed. I recommend this for those who want a younger whiter looking smile.
Great item for the money 2007-03-08
Without having to spend a great deal for professional whitening systems, these Crest WhiteStrips do a pretty decent job. I personally would not recomment do the whole 20 day program though, because after just 3 or 4 uses you will see some noticeable results without stripping too much of the enamel off your teeth.
These are the Best Bet Going 2006-12-22
These things work. Once you figure out how to use them. All you do is carefully hold each end with finger tips, using the nuckle of each finger to raise or lower lip, center and lay strip across teeth.
Use your finger nail to tuck into spaces between each tooth, making sure to keep fingernail in the space of the tooth you just tucked before you move onto the next space or tucking it into that one will pull the last one out.
Once you do it a couple of times, it is smooth sailing from then on. I do not think that you will find another whitener that is this easy to use and this reasonably priced, that actually works very, very well.
I'm smiling for you right now so that you can see what I mean. ;],
Impressed aren't you? I know I was and I will definetely buy this product again.
I also recommend it to all of my friends who are not as bright smiled as I now am.
Do your self a favor--Get this!
Kim Schild
Seeing results after only 3 days!!! 2006-06-23
Well, I won't reveal my age here, and I don't know if my teeth were yellowed enough to NEED 20 years taken off them, but I will say I - and others around me - am seeing results after only 3 days with this system.
I received a free sample package through BzzAgent, a company that creates "buzz" about products through word of mouth. However, I am a natural skeptic... I guess I believed these products were just out there to prey on vulnerable smokers who are self-conscious from all us non-smokers picking on them.
As a non-smoker who nevertheless loves dark-coloured drinks (coke, root beer, tea, coffee), I've never used any kind of whitening product, except toothpastes which didn't work.
From the Crest Whitestrips commercials, I thought the strips would be something almost invisible that you could wear while at work, on the subway or wherever. Not quite!
For what it's worth, they sort of look and feel like bandaids on your teeth; slippery bandaids that wiggle around if you try to do anything more stressful than write Amazon reviews. :-)
BUT let's put this into perspective: you use them twice a day (1/2 hr each time) for ten days and you're DONE for a good long while (how long depends on your personal eating/drinking/smoking habits). You can even use one strip for 1/2 an hour, then start your second strip right away afterwards... to get it all over with even faster.
The first evening I tried Whitestrips Renewal, I put them in to watch TV, and I don't think I had them in quite right because they kept slipping around. Also, I didn't rinse my fingers and the peroxide made my fingertips turn white and sting. However, a quick rinse took care of that. DO NOT get this stuff in your eyes, on your clothing or any other delicate surface. It's powerful stuff!
Anyway, I was cursing the strips until I realized that I would just have to not speak for half an hour while I had them in. Maybe other people can manage it, but talking doesn't work for me with the strips in. Since then, it's been a breeze each time.
SO... I guess the caveats are that you should set aside time to do this, during TV-watching or web-surfing downtime (as a bonus, you may lose weight from not snacking for that half-hour!), and not expect to be out doing errands with the strips on like the people in commercials seem to be able to do.
Anyway, if you want to turn back the clock by a few years and turn up the compliments, the Whitestrips Renewal system seems like a great way to go - at a fraction of the cost of professional dental whitening!
If you're 60, nobody is going to mistake you for 40....but not bad! 2006-05-11
I'm an ex-dental hygienist who delved into the depths of people's mouths for about 20 years, so healthy teeth mean a lot to me--especially my own. When the in-office dental bleaching first came around, I wasn't interested in trying it because, at that time, I felt I really didn't need it. The cost to patients then was close to $500. Ten years later and no longer practicing dental hygiene, I was ready to try some of the home products that were on the market. I regularly used, and continue to use, a whitening toothpaste (which basically just removes superficial surface stains from coffee, etc.) Then I tried the Night Effects "paint on" liquid. Besides being gooey and sort of a pain to use (not to mention looking like Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel when I went to bed--not an attractive look, ladies) I really didn't see a noticeable whitening. It's been a couple of years since that attempt, so I was ready to try this product. But I have to tell you that I found it for about half the going price from a seller on that well-known online auction site (which shall remain nameless, but you know the one.) You can also go on the Crest website right now (May 2006) and get a coupon for $7.00 off if you want to buy it at a drugstore or supermarket.
I found these strips easy to apply, but someone with large hands or not a lot of dexterity might have a bit of difficulty. That could be overcome with a little practice. They do "stick" quite well to your teeth, but you can also maneuver them around easily if you need to reposition them during the treatment. I haven't experienced much sensitivity after using them, and I do back-to-back treatments, which is okay if you don't want to space them out over the course of the day. You can even skip a day if your teeth are especially sensitive. I did the upper strips alone first; that way you can lighten the lowers gradually to match the upper better. Most people aren't as concerned about the whiteness of their lower teeth because the uppers are more visible when smiling. I don't think you'll get "blue-white" teeth like Ed McMahon, but who wants that anyway? Especially if you're over 50, because let's face facts--there are a lot of other things that give away your age faster than less-than-white teeth! (Now if they came out with Age Defying Face Strips--the face lift in a box--I'll take one!) Seriously, the Renewal Whitestrips did lighten up my teeth quite nicely and got rid of the grayish look they had taken on over the years and also some yellowish areas where the enamel had become thinned. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the product and would use them again when my teeth, inevitably, begin to look dull. (Oh, and I'm going to turn 60 next year, so I guess I can be an official "baby boomer" spokesperson for this product!)
