Zingers

If I had known what “zingers” were before I decided to undergo a recent treatment, I probably would not have suffered through it. But I’m glad I did. How people repeat this treatment over and over is beyond my comprehension. I guess it becomes an addiction and you endure the bad stuff because of the end result.

For most of my life, I don’t recall my teeth ever being very white. Maybe their color is hereditary, but I’m sure it’s due, in part, to my lack of milk consumption while growing up to make them strong. I’m not a big fan of milk. I love it in cereal. I love other milk products (ice cream, cheese, etc.), but milk by itself has no appeal to me. I will be a brittle-boned old lady, no doubt!

Anyway, my dentist’s office offers a tooth whitening treatment and I gave it a go. The first step was to make impressions of my teeth for the post-treatment bleaching trays. I didn’t have braces as a teen, so I never had impressions done before. I think with today’s technology, the experience probably isn’t as bad as it was “back in the day”. My scheduled whitening appointment wasn’t until the following week, but they had an opening for the day after my impressions were done, so I took it.

I knew the appointment was going to take about two hours or so. I had no details about what they actually do during the treatment, the side effects, nothing. And I’m glad I didn’t know. Had I researched it more beforehand (on the internet, like I did after the treatment!), my teeth would still look like two rows of yellow corn.

After placing a plastic apparatus in my mouth to hold my lips open, the hygienist squirted a green gel over my gums and used a laser beam to dry it. It was like a wax dam for my gums. She packed my cheeks with gauze, put sunscreen on my lips and covered my lips in gauze as well. All this is to protect the soft tissues from the bleach and the UV light. Once the prep work was done, a bleaching gel went on my front teeth and the UV light was positioned over the mouth piece. I was under the light for four 15-minute sessions.

I must say my hygienist, Tammy, was very cool in explaining everything she was doing and why. She also told me I might experience a few “zingers”, not completely explaining in detail what this meant. She likened it to “brain freeze” when you eat a popsicle. Trust me, it wasn’t.

Towards the end of the first of the four treatments, I experienced a zinger. It was on a top left front tooth. It’s like this electric current being shot up through your tooth to the tip. And it occurs out of nowhere. When the first 15 minutes were over, the bleach was wiped off and more put on, with another 15 minutes under the light.

No zingers on the second session, but you certainly spend the entire time anticipating one! It’s a tragic little mind game. During the third session, I experienced a number of zingers on my bottom teeth. I considered stopping and not going forward with the fourth session. Tammy said some people stop at two sessions. I figured I’d come this far, might as well tough it out and just finish it. Tammy checked on me every few minutes, so I knew if it got too bad, she could turn off the light at any time.

The fourth session was full of zingers, but not constant. They’d subside and then ZING! I was so glad when the timer went off, signaling the end of the ordeal. After carefully removing the gauze, wax gum dam and plastic lip piece, Tammy cleaned/wiped the excess bleach from my teeth, applied a fluoride soothing gel into the bleaching trays (made from the previous day’s impressions) and placed them on my teeth. My teeth were 7 shades lighter than before the treatment. My teeth have never been so white in my adult life!

After a quick rundown of some do’s and don’ts, and paying for the treatment, I was sent on my merry way. I went back to work. My jaw was a little sore from being held open for two hours and I had a little burn on the inside of my lower lip. Worse though, the zingers didn’t stop. I took out the bleaching trays and rinsed off the fluoride. I carefully ate lunch, all the while, anticipating zingers. My teeth were zinging through the rest of the day. The Advil I took didn’t seem to help at all.

By the time I got home, I think I was a little mentally drained from the anticipation of zingers. They were less frequent and less intense by then, but not knowing when they’ll strike is exhausting. With a list of things I couldn’t eat or drink, we had dinner at the diner. I ate scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and water, no ice. We went to the bookstore and every so often, zing!

That night, I took half a Percoset, hoping it would help with the soreness of my teeth and that it would help me sleep. It helped me sleep, but I think the zinging subsided on its own. The next day, my teeth didn’t feel pain-free, but they weren’t electric. I had a quick follow-up appointment at the dentist’s office. One zinger while I waited. Dr. G. showed me how to prepare the bleaching trays for touch-ups if I feel I need them. Teeny squirts of bleaching solution go onto the middle of each tooth on the tray. Then he put the bleaching trays on my teeth! As soon as I got in the car, off they came. I could feel the zingers starting to form. Luckily, they didn’t. I felt a stray zing or two that afternoon, but have been (knock on wood!) zing-free since Thursday.

I looked up “zingers” on the internet and found a few articles and reviews about the whitening treatment. As with anything, there were good and bad reviews. I think it all depends on your tolerance for pain, your teeth’s sensitivity and the dentist you select. My hygienist was so careful in her prep-work that I had very little discomfort on my gums, mouth and lips. I read quite a few horror stories of people being burned by the bleach and the light. One woman said the zingers brought her to her knees during a yoga class. Luckily, mine weren’t that excruciating.

Today, three days after the treatment, the whiteness has evened out and they’re not as blingy as the first two days. Overall, I’m glad I did this. Never again, however. Even though I got 7 shades lighter, they’re not movie star quality. Movie star teeth are probably veneers anyway! I know my teeth will never be pure “white”. Looking at them, they’re still discolored, but certainly not as bad as they were.

Let’s take a look, shall we? Please excuse the crookedness of my teeth.

BEFORE:

AFTER: