Professional tooth whitening, has anyone had it done?

Hi,
I'm interested in getting my teeth professionally whitened. I'm aware there are different systems that dentist's use ie; Brightsmile, Zoom. Just looking to get some input from anyone that has had it done! TIA.

I hated the whole experience. Maybe if I would have been talked thru what the procedure entailed, I might have been okay. I have a coworker who bought the tray and gel thru her dentist, and she gets better results than I did with the laser whitening.

The downs: The plastic gum guards that they jam in between your teeth *hurt*. The bleaching solution (I'm guessing that's what it was) trickled down underneath my tongue, burned it, left a blister. The dentist kept putting me under the lamp for extended periods because my teeth weren't whitening enough (reminiscent of the first and last bad salon perm I had!). And the part I can laugh about after the fact: while I've got this lamp in my face, reclined in a chair, plastic contraption forcing my jaws wide open, krazy orange goggles on to protect my eyes...I was right there at ground level with windows floor to ceiling in a mall where people were constantly walking by! LOL!!!!

The good: My teeth looked very white for a month, maybe.

I would go the tray route next time!!!! In the privacy of my own home, thank you very much!!! Also the chemicals aren't as strong, so I don't think I'd get burned again!!!

My teeth were very yellow in my twenties and I had the dentist
give me the tray and the Opalescence Gel. They were white in
a week and I was very happy. The gel does hurt your gums and
you are sensitive for a while, nothing hot or cold. Back then it
was a fortune. Now you can buy the Gel and Trays online, if
you do a search for Opalescence Gel on google.com
I did the laser $500 treatment from dentist a few yrs ago and it
wasn't worth it, it barely lightened.
http://www.dentist.net/opalescence.asp

So I believe the trays are the best. The stuff you buy in the
drugstore doesn't work.

Good Luck,
Natalie

I paid $750 (in the NYC area) to have this done---maybe 2 years ago. Things may have changed, but the product the dentist with me was NOT at all worth it. They told me that my teeth would stay that white, as long as I didn't smoke, drink wine, eat anything staining, stop brushing teeth, etc. Since I'm vegan (vegetarian), my food intake is limited to non-dyed foods, and I don't smoke or drink alcohol. So, I followed their instructions to a "T" (avoiding blueberries, beets, etc.), but my teeth seemed to remain that gorgeous glowing white for only a few days---I guess until the bleeching stuff wore off from the sun or something? 

Anyway, even if you do want to try it and don't mind spending that kind of money for a one-time whitening, keep this in mind: Before they can infuse the bleech (--and they don't warn you about this--), they do something that somehow (I'm not a dentist, so I don't know the terms) opens the pores of your teeth. I never realized my teeth had pores (or whatever you would call small openings that go deeper into the tooth and eventually to the sensitive root), or that a chemical process could 'open' them. This is why a poster above was describing the awful tooth sensitivity after the procedure.  I can't describe how weird that feelign was, except to say that if you ever got kicked or hit in the mouth in school sports or something, and you felt that quick shock-pain when your tooth or teeth were hit?... Well this gives you that feeling on _all_ your teeth _every_ time you breath in (and air rushes past/into those pores). I couldn't believe the dentist told me I might have "a little sensitivity" for a half-hour or so afterward. Like the poster above, it was _intense_ for me, and was still bad the day after. (It was also quite embarrassing to return to work after the noon-time dentist appointment, and be in [intentional/physically-reflexive] tears every time I opened my mouth to speak.

I hope people will post positive experiences if they have had them; maybe things have changed since I had mine done.