A whiter shade of pale proves costly business

By SIMON HENDERY

For several years now my dentist has been dropping hints about doing some work to whiten my teeth.

I had, she would say, a shade of yellow that would easily be erased.

Really? Were my slowly yellowing gnashers turning me into a dental leper?

So when the opportunity came out to try the latest tooth-whitening craze I gave it a go.

The treatment came courtesy of BriteSmile Inc which uses a surgical light-based treatment costing $1200. The firm's regional boss was disarmingly blunt when asked why people would spend that sort of money on to tooth whitening, which after all is much more than do-it-yourself options.

"Convenience. Instant gratification," Leow Kee Peng beams, flashing his own set of pearly whites.

Mr Leow, the US-based company's Asia/Pacific vice-president, has reason to smile. About 500 New Zealanders have undergone the dentist-administered BriteSmile treatment since the procedure arrived in the country a year ago.

He expects that number to double this year as enthusiasm for teeth-whitening continues to grow.

"It is exploding in every country we're in - everybody wants white teeth," Mr Leow says.

I must confess to being one of those people after my dentist's hints and faced with others' flashing white smiles. So when Mr Leow offered to shout me the treatment in the name of journalistic enlightenment, he had found a willing subject.

The procedure involves smearing the teeth with a peroxide-containing gel that triggers a bleaching reaction when exposed to a bright blue light.

I was put into the care of Hisham Abdalla who, with his colleagues at Auckland's Downtown Dental, had performed about 20 BriteSmile treatments.

Most of those who paid for the treatment were "middle-aged [mainly female] people waking up and saying 'I don't like the way I look'," Dr Abdalla said. Younger people generally found the cost too much of a barrier.

The treatement appealed because it was convenient. A home bleaching system using a custom-made mouthguard tray worn overnight for two or three weeks is a much cheaper alternative at about $400. But a high number of patients fail to follow the treatment through for the full time required.

Paint-on bleaches and whitening toothpastes are increasingly popular supermarket sellers.

They offer a much slower transformation, although manufacturers of the paint-on products, which are applied once or twice a day, say consumers will notice a difference in tooth colour within a couple of days.

The BriteSmile treatment is not painful, but neither is it pleasant.

My mouth was trussed up, lips pushed out of the glare of the blue light machine so it could work its magic on my gel-covered teeth for 20 minutes.

Then the mouth dam came out briefly, fresh gel was applied, and the procedure was repeated over three more 20-minute sessions.

So about two hours after first settling into the dentist's chair, I am told my teeth are 12 shades whiter (all patients are guaranteed at least a seven-shade improvement).

The effect of the treatment lasts for up to three years and the $1200 cost includes a supply of brush-on whitening pens which work on the same principle as the supermarket-stocked, paint-on bleaches.

Has life changed as a result of my treatment? I'm still waiting for a Hollywood talent scout to spot the difference.

But I can see how one treatment could get you hooked on an expensive cosmetic habit.

I've been thinking, don't I really owe it to myself to get that crooked tooth straightened, and that other one capped?

HANDY HINTS

Consumers' Institute recommended a three-part approach in a report on teeth-whiteners published last October:

* Get your teeth professionally cleaned by your dentist or dental hygienist.

* Use a whitening toothpaste to maintain the level this achieves.

* Change your habits to reduce your intake of substances which cause staining such as cigarettes, red wine, coffee and tea.