# Do Crest Whitestrips need to be used in close succession...?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-crest-whitestrips-need-to-be-used-in-close-succession/306643
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 3, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-crest-whitestrips-need-to-be-used-in-close-succession/306643 "2005-06-03T00:20:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-crest-whitestrips-need-to-be-used-in-close-succession/306643/1 "2005-06-03T00:20:23Z")

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It’s June, which means it’s time for my annual round of Crest Whitestrips. Well, they are hurting my bottom row of teeth. Pain starts 2-3 minutes after I put a strip on, stops as soon as I take it off. I guess it’s a gum thing (I have never had a cavity… what do they feel like?) It makes sense that it would be a gum thing, because I’ve just been on a very stressful trip, and in the past, stress has made them inflamed.

But none of this is my question (hooray! no medical disclaimers needed!) What I want to know is: if I discontinue the strips for a week or so, then start them again, will I end up with the same whitening in the end? Is there something about them that makes them work better when used twice a day for seven days, as directed? Or is it all strictly cumulative?