Miller, a general management freshman, said she has been using Crest Whitestrips every four months for more than a year to keep her smile bright.

“I feel better when my teeth look nice,” she said. “It’s the one thing I really like about myself.”

While dentist Dr. John Krawitz said he recommends certain methods of bleaching more than others, there are no serious known harms to periodically using teeth whitening products.

“We’re not seeing long-term dramatic problems with bleaching,” he said. “We don’t know for sure that these methods don’t wear down enamel, but we have seen, over 10 years, that these products are relatively safe.”

Krawitz understands why a product like Crest Whitestrips, which costs between $25 and $40 depending on the strength, is appealing to college students on a budget.

“The Crest Whitestrips contain a form of bleach, so if you don’t adapt the strips well you could bleach a line across your teeth,” he said. “One negative is that sometimes the strips will go over gum tissue, making teeth sensitive.”

Miller said her teeth are sometimes sore after using home teeth whitening products, but the pain is never severe.

“Every now and then my teeth will really hurt, but it doesn’t happen every time,” she said.

Rather than giving in to the sensitivity caused by the bleach and settling for off-white teeth, Miller said spacing out her whitening sessions is the best way to avoid a sore smile.

Another way to lighten teeth that is a time effective, yet expensive, in-office procedure involves keeping a high percentage of bleach on the teeth for about an hour. However, Krawitz said he doesn’t recommend this procedure to patients as it often causes teeth to become quite sensitive afterward.

“The best method for whitening your teeth would be to go to a dentist and have them make a mold of your teeth for a custom mouth piece,” he said. “You can wear the mouth piece for a couple hours each day — as often or little as you want. It takes about 20 hours or so to get the maximum effect.”

Krawitz said this method, which tends to be less expensive than the one-hour, in-office procedure, uses a lower concentration of bleach and gradually whitens, causing little to no sensitivity.

Miller said she tried different methods to whiten her teeth before becoming a regular Crest Whitestrips user.

“I’ve tried the whitening toothpastes and the Listerine mouthwash and I had this whitening pen one time, but I didn’t really like any of those,” she said. “And the whitening toothpaste didn’t really work. It probably helped a little bit but nothing noticeable.”

The reason Miller didn’t see a noticeable result after using whitening toothpaste is because it’s not a very effective way to whiten teeth, Krawitz said.

“There is very little bleach in whitening toothpastes,” he said. “They very rarely whiten teeth.”

With toothpaste out of the equation for a whiter smile, pricey yet effective in-office procedures and over-the-counter bleaching methods are the best alternative, Krawitz said. However, a consultation is a must.

“Whitening is not for everybody,” he said.

“I would recommend seeing a dentist first to see if you’re a candidate.”