<HTML>In a message dated 5/6/01 3:08:14 PM Central Daylight Time, ramsey@extremezone.com (Kevin E. Ramsey). writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">    I just had an idea,,,,,,,,,,What about those tooth whitening-bleaching gels that you can get at any drug store?</BLOCKQUOTE> They won't do anything for a human's stained teeth, why would they do anything for an elephant's? Seriously, though, I worked on this problem some 15 years ago with the help of a Dentist who was curious about what could be done.  He was very frank in telling me that those drug store teeth whitening kits "don't work" meaning that if a person's teeth were discolored enough to want to effect a cosmetic change, a far stronger, more potent (and potentially hazardous to the health) chemical must be used. It is normal, from the experience and information I gathered at the time, for people's teeth to yellow in color over time, even with proper dental care.   Some people therefore will want to cosmetically whiten their teeth.  There are, of course more severe cases of discoloration from various causes. In dentistry, the Dentist first applies an acid wash to the teeth to allow the H2O2 to penetrate.  He then applies the H2O2 and uses an ultraviolet light beam as a "kicker" for the chemical.  I was interested at the time in having whiter teeth.  In my case of only normal yellowing, the Dentist first made a mold of my teeth, then, every other day for 2 weeks I applied a Peroxide gel and kept the mold on my teeth for an hour. The gel burned and my gums felt raw and sore afterwards.  He warned me not to use it every day because of the possibility of gum damage.  I told him that I couldn't have done it every day if I had wanted to, the chemical was so strong. It certainly did the trick: my teeth have remained extraordinarily and dazzlingly white ever since.  For daily care, I use Mentadent Advanced Whitening formula.  The toothpaste comes in a pump where the peroxide is kept separate from the other solution.  Once combined in the mouth during brushing, there is a mild chemical reaction taking place that has a very mild whitening effect.  Starting with already whitened teeth, the drug store toothpaste serves to keep them white but according to the Dentist, this toothpaste or any of the products you can just buy would have very little or no effect on badly discolored teeth. You can now relate all of this to the ivory whitening task.  For ivories, the first thing to do is analogous to the acid wash.  Cleaning or scraping will remove, to a large degree, what looks undesirable.  If peroxide is to be used, the cleaning and/or scraping must be done first so that it can penetrate.  Then, significantly strong concentrations of peroxide must be applied to have much of an effect.  I used the beauty parlor stuff and yes, it does work but not as well as the higher concentrations did.  The ultraviolet light also contributes greatly to the whitening effect. Oddly enough, I have noticed that the plastic material called Pyralin yellowed the way ivory does (or maybe even worse) but it also responds to the same techniques of cleaning and whitening.  The more modern plastics don't seem to yellow like ivory or Pyralin (or maybe there just hasn't been enough time elapsed for them to start the yellowing and deterioration process). One more note:  Until I saw recently the posts about using milk to clean ivories, I had always thought that to be in the category of the "old wife's tale".  I had always believed that the milk simply being a liquid, could dissolve and help remove dust and dirt.  That in itself would make the keys look better.  Now, however, it seems that some people have discovered something else about what the milk may have done for the ivories.  Very interesting.  I'd like to see some real science behind it. Let me leave you with a summarizing thought.  I clean piano keys often.  When I have brought this up in the past, there would immediately be a post from someone who says to leave them dirty.  Now there are people obsessed with how white they can get them.  Over the years, I have seen this kind of range of opinion and emotion about nearly every aspect of Piano Service.  It always seems to go from one extreme to the other. While it may be a fascinating and satisfying experience to make this kind of cosmetic change, please keep it within the context of what is best for the piano, what the customer wants and how much the customer is willing to pay.   For the most part, simply wiping the keys clean with a very mild soap or detergent is all I would ever recommend doing.  The whitening task is one for the most extensive rebuilding or restoration project. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>