Whitening toothpaste / strips / gel : do not work and are linked to tongue cancer.

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My aunt being a nurse, I have known since I was a kid that it's "okay to rinse with hydrogen peroxide" but only once in a while because it "causes cancer," so I wondered about the peroxide in whitening pastes for a while before it finally came out in the news recently that the "whitening" pastes indeed are linked to cancer.

I unfortunately lost a front tooth a year ago. I had the dentist make the fake tooth 1/4 shade lighter so that I could "bleach my teeth up." The difference is totally _not_ noticeable. In order for super-self-conscious ME to be able to notice the difference, I have to stand in the bathroom with the light coming in from an angle and half-close my mouth in a weird way. Then, I can barely tell that the fake tooth is a _little bit_ brighter. Nobody else can tell. It's not like when you see the guy with one glowing tooth or anything.

For the last year, I have been using Colgate whitening toothpaste w/ peroxide, Crest White Strips and the more powerful (though messier) Night Effects goop. I've also used 2 kinds of Rembrandt toothpaste. All in all, I'd say I spent $300 on White Strips and Night Effects and different toothpastes, which I've been using non-stop for a year now.

There's no difference. And I'm done risking tongue cancer and wasting lots of money for no difference.

This was a public service announcement for people who "seem to see a difference," as I thought I did for many months. It's just not possible, though. There is no difference. I do not drink coffee or tea or dark juices, either.

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

how many people use whitening toothpaste vs how many people get tongue cancer?

― Stevem On X (blueski), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Got no clue.

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Cigarettes: even less good at whitening teeth *and* linked to halitosis.

― Miles Finch, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I suppose if you trust Fox...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128848,00.html

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.columbia.edu/~alk2102/images/xmas2.jpg

― TOMBOT, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Ew, who's the ugly guy?

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't trust Fox, but then if I trusted eg Teh Mail I wouldn't eat or ingest *anything* cos it's all 'linked to cancer'.

― Miles Finch, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

It's more that the shit _doesn't work_ that bothers me. I've used tons of the stuff nonstop for 12 months. Like cigarettes, also cited above, it's a fucking WASTE of money.

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

X-POST - Nice pic!

Maybe those don't work, but my boss got a teeth-whitening procedure done and there was a definite improvement. Before, his teeth were disgustingly yellow, but now they are so white that they're blinding, like that episode of Friends...

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the dentist stuff like Zoom whitening or Bright Smile definitely works and now I remember my dentist didn't seem very optimistic when I was telling him I'll "bleach my teeth up." I thought he was just trying to make $700 of his whitening procedure, though.

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyone got links to scholarly, peer-reviewed articles proving this?

I've been using whitening toothpaste for about 18 months. I can see the difference, and so can other people, though not so much people I've seen regularly due to it being transitional.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Re: photo -- I'm more worried about the angry dog that lives there!

(I've never seen two middle fingers in an Xmas photo before and therefore proclaim said pic to be even more genius.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Nah, edward, I wouldn't worry about it. I think the at-home stuff is good about surface crud, but the INSIDE of the tooth remains the same shade it always has. That's the problem. You basically reach maximum whitening effect after 3 nights of use or something and the difference is not much and easily reverts. The Zoom or Bright Smile bleaches your tooth through the inside and really works.

― Newsflash Man, Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

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