Say ‘Cheese’, please

WITH Simon Cowell flashing his gnashers all over X Factor USA, the British contestants being rushed off to have theirs professionally brightened during the show, and more Hollywood stars than you can shake a stick at sporting tombstone-alike dentition, it’s no surprise that the craze for teeth whitening refuses to go away.

Cheryl Cole, Angelina Jolie and Ireland’s own Amy Huberman all have gleaming, pearly whites we’re clearly only dying to emulate. But the problem has always been price.

Dentist offerings like Zoom whitening, which use lasers, often costs from €300 to €500 for treatment, depending on where you go. Not only painful on the purse, it can cause sensitivity in the mouth too. But it’s worth noting that if you have serious discolouration or want to lighten teeth significantly, this is the best option.

Savvy Irish gals have long known there were cheaper solutions available online in the form Crest Whitestrips, a US-only product that you stick on, and which gently brightens teeth two-to-three shades.

For years, if you wanted to avoid a hefty credit card bill for brighter ivories, you bought these babies, but here’s some happy news.

The technology has now moved to this side of the pond, and it’s better than ever. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen at-home whitening treatments morph from the clunky and wieldy tray of old into sophisticated solutions you can carry around with you.

No, we still can’t buy Crest Whitestrips here, but we can bag ourselves stylish silver pen dispensers and slim whitening strips that are handbag-friendly.

Essentially, using low levels of hydrogen or carbamide peroxide and oxygen, these new-school solutions bubble up or bleach off stains caused by things like red wine, coffee and spicy foods. It’s important to note that the result is a cosmetic one and one that differs in its intent and result to the laser used by the dentist, but the price you pay reflects that. In addition, if you don’t have much staining to begin with, you may not see great results.

If your concerns are just to have a brighter, less dull smile, then you’ll probably be happy with what you end up with — teeth that are a few shades brighter. But if you’d like a grin that necessitates your nearest and dearest donning sunglasses when you walk in the room, then it’s back to the dentist — try a specialist like Seapoint Clinic in Blackrock, Dublin, 01-2842570 — for a chat about Zoom.