"Quick fix" teeth whitening products are available at your local drugstore, but they do have limits. Fred explains the difference between over-the-counter teeth whitening products and chairside treatments on "San Diego Living."

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Chrissy: Are you looking for a quick fix for a bright smile? Well Fred Joyal is here to help you decide where to go to get whitened up. Hi Fred.

Fred Joyal: Hi Chrissie.

Chrissy: 1-800-DENTIST is your big-time gig right?

Fred Joyal: Yes.

Chrissy: That's your big-time company. Tell me real quickly what 1-800-DENTIST is if people haven't already heard about it.

Fred Joyal: It's a, we have a group of dentists all across the country that we've screened ourselves and we've referred hundreds of people to and were very comfortable with the skills they have and the environment they have and the services that they offer. And we have a 24-hour 7-day a week live call center, you can call and talk about the dentist and find the right one for you. You can also do it online now too.

Chrissy: Okay, oh sweet. But I wannna, I wannna talk about teeth whitening, because it just seems to me like there's just so many different options. Are more people doing teeth whitening these days? Is it getting more popular?

Fred Joyal: A lot more people, it's become this, this thing that people are interested in whiter teeth and you see a lot more over-the-counter stuff. And that's kind of what's driving the interest, because that stuff is out there. Now there's whitening toothpaste and all these things that you can stick on your teeth and they sort of work temporarily or partially. They don't always work evenly on the teeth and things like that. But it gets people interested in getting them really white and properly.

Chrissy: Well, I read some research on the ADA website about the toothpaste and the stuff that's over-the-counter, that it does show that it has like a short-term effect.

Fred Joyal: Yeah.

Chrissy: That it does have a short-term effect, but if you want something long-term, what can you, that actually is permanent, how, what do you do?

Fred Joyal: When you go to a dentist and you do in-office one-hour whitening, they're usually putting the gel on three or four times and replacing it. They're protecting your gums the whole time that they're doing it and usually it's laser or light activated in some way. So it's a more penetrating whitening. It usually goes 8 to 10 shades rather than 2 or 3, and it lasts a lot longer.

Chrissy: What is a lot longer? How long does it last?

Fred Joyal: Couple of years, usually with a touch up. It depends on if you're drinking kind of red wine, drinking a lot of coffee or iced tea, all of these things I do. So I'm whitening all the time, but -

Chrissy: Are you? You do?

Fred Joyal: Yeah, yeah. And it's also gotten it's, it used to be a lot more uncomfortable in a dentist's office, they're constantly improving that process.  

Chrissy: Can you overdo it? Can you look like, you know, you're like blazing legs, Frosty the Snowman -

Fred Joyal: You can't get your teeth whiter than they actually are naturally, that's the truth.

Chrissy: Yeah, okay.  Oh I got it, so you can't really - I've seen some people that look like they're overdoing it.  But that's really, they're so natural teeth then.

Fred Joyal: No, they've done veneers of some kind, and they got them too white.

Chrissy: Oh got it.

Fred Joyal: They get them like a nonhuman white.

Chrissy: Can you, so that things that cause discoloration, tobacco, age, you know it can be genetic, but tetracycline-

Fred Joyal: Yeah.

Chrissy: And that was the antibiotic that kids got or something along those lines that caused, a lot of kids in my hometown had that, does it work for that? The brown spots?

Fred Joyal: No, no.

Chrissy: Okay, that's the one thing.

Fred Joyal: That, you generally have to get some kind of veneers for that.

Chrissy: Okay.

Fred Joyal: And actually when you have tetracycline and you use whitening, it'll exaggerate the stain.

Chrissy: Okay, so you should know that before. What else do you need to know before you - because there's things that those people can do, this just isn't it.

Fred Joyal: Right.

Chrissy: But there are other things yeah.

Fred Joyal: It's important to see a dentist, because you maybe shouldn't be whitening your teeth. If you've got a few cavities and things like that or -

Chrissy: Oh really?

Fred Joyal: Receding gums, things like that because you'll have real sensitivity. So it's important to be checked by a dentist before you do this anyway so it's important to see a dentist on a regular basis, but if you really want your teeth white, go in, have somebody look at your teeth, make sure that it's not a tetracycline thing or a crack or something like that, that really needs to be repaired.

Chrissy: Is it painful?

Fred Joyal: Most of the time people experience a little sensitivity, but it's, even if it's uncomfortable, that usually goes away in 24 hours for 80% of the people there is no discomfort at all.

Chrissy: Yeah. You know, I had that done a while back, one of our dentist that came on the show, I went to his office and had it done. And it was actually really painful for me, but here's why, and everybody in the office just - they remember me cause I was like melting down. But it was because when I got my braces off when I was a teenager, the orthodontist that I had back in Virginia actually, like sawed down my bottom teeth with a drill or like a sander or thing, you know like down here, and I think it just -

Fred Joyal: That's one way to go.

Chrissy: It just left, I know, I don't know if that was the right, 20 years ago, that might have been the thing, but it made, it made that more sensitive. So I think if I just had normal teeth, you know it would not have been an issue at all.  In fact it would have been just fine.  So if you want to find a dentist, go to 1800dentist.com or call 1-800-DENTIST and Fred, you say we take every smile personally, how great.

Fred Joyal: I do, yes.

Chrissy: Thanks for being in here.

Fred Joyal: My pleasure.