Which do you recommend: Crest 3D Whitestrips or Colgate Visible White?

Most at home whitening products work by using the same chemicals to bleach the teeth.  The over the counter products such as Crest Whitestrips are limited in the concentration of bleach that they can sell over the counter.  This means that the results you get from these products is both limited and slow.  In office whitening products such as Zoom use a stronger concentration of bleach and speed up the process by adding a plasma arc light to the bleach.  This is by far the best way to bleach your teeth.  If you want a great result, throw away the over the counter product and get your teeth ZOOMED!  Good luck. 

   

Whitening strips whitens your smile on the go via prefilled, disposables trays. Its effective  and easy to use. The disadvantages with it, is that it will take longer for a great result and sometimes it does not work at all. Rather than heading to the local cosmetic counter or shopping mall in search of teeth whiteners, star with a dental check up. This way, the cause of discoloration can be diagnosed. Whitening products only work on natural tooth enamel, not on crowns, veneers, bonding materials or tooth colored fillings. Being a cosmetic dentist, i am aware of how desirable  it is to have white,bright teeth and how it impacts your confidence, well being, and your entire life.

Great question!  There are so many different choices for at home whitening that it can be confusing to choose the one best for you.  If you have a dentist, visit them first in order to know if you are even a good candidate for teeth whitening or take a picture and show us here.  Between the two products you have listed it just depends on which one you prefer based on the administration method.  Strips can be a little clumbsy, but if you have straight teeth you can usually get fairly good results.  The Colgate product you mentioned I think is just a gel product that goes in a tray type of delivery system.  Trays can be a more comfortable way to whiten teeth if your teeth are not aligned perfectly. 

When using home products of any type you are going to sacrifice speed of whitening and intensity based on the fact that the gels and pastes have to be below a certain concentration of whitener in order to be considered over the counter.  However, frequency can help you overcome these obstacles to some degree.  You will have to use home whitening products more frequently to get a desired result and continue to use them. 

Whitening teeth is like getting a tan or coloring your hair.  The teeth want to go back to their original color after a time.  So, you have to continue to whiten and find a maintenance program that works best for you.  In office whitening does almost always provide a more impressive result in a shorter period of time, however like home whitening, still requires a maintenance plan to effectively keep teeth white over the long run. 

I have posted a video showing a midrange type of whitening (not as expensive, time consuming) that some people prefer over Zoom.  Hope this helps.

Hope that helps :)