Teeth Whitening: Stories

This was a special offer, 99 UK pounds instead of 395, so I thought "why not?" The procedure was performed in a tiny booth in the middle of a shopping mall/subway station, absolutely no privacy, and I was a bit hesitant when I saw the set-up. No running water! The person running the show was a dental assistant rather than a dentist, but he ran through all the details very thoroughly. I was warned that I might have white spots on my gums afterwards which would disappear after an hour or so, and that my teeth might twinge (zingers) so I should take over the counter painkillers as and when necessary for about 12-24 hours. He also warned me not to eat any coloured food (not just artificial colours, but any dark things such as beetroot) or drink coffee or red wine for at least 24 hours. No gravy, sauces, certainly no curry, in fact no fun at all! I have not seen this mentioned in any reviews so far, and apparently the teeth continue to whiten during the 24 hours so what you eat/drink is very important. I stuck to plain rice, bread and chicken. Errr - Yum? He covered my lips with a thick coat of vaseline and got to work. 2 x 20 minutes of treatment. It was uncomfortable, but not painful during the treatment. Teeth were quite painful starting from about 1 hour after the treatment (4pm) and the twinges lasted all evening. I took 4 x 500g paracetamol over an 8 hour period and when I woke up the next morning they were slightly sensitive but OK. Nothing bad. However my gums were dark red and very sensitive, couldn't brush my teeth properly for 3 days, had to buy sensodyne toothpaste and a soft brush to get by. This is the 4th day and they're almost back to normal. The good news is my teeth are BEAUTIFUL!