Can Excessive Teeth Whitening Backfire?
A teeth whitening procedure constitutes an excellent way to improve your appearance, boost your self-esteem, enhance your attractiveness and diminish the appearance of wrinkles and lines. While the practice is very popular among Americans, more and more dentists are pointing out that excessive bleaching can cause the teeth to lose their natural color. Moreover, clinical research shows that in the long run, whitening inevitably will harm the gums and the oral cavity.
How does bleaching affect your teeth?
Most whiteners, including the highly hyped use-at-home strips, dislodge impurities and particles from the enamel. In fact, because it can also extract the crystal of the tooth, for some people their teeth become translucent and look grayish, particularly in the back of the mouth. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about the gray discoloration, as it can’t be removed even in the dentist’s office.
At the same time, too much peroxide – the active ingredients in most DIY whiteners – can produce gum irritation and inflammations. Furthermore, exposing the oral cavity to excessive peroxide is harmful for the soft tissue of the mouth as well as the throat and stomach. Take note that even though tooth sensitivity constitutes a normal side effect following the whitening procedure, ill-fitting bleaching trays are bound to damage the gum tissue.
What about the ADA approved products?
Certain OTC whitening products carry the ADA’s seal of approval and are deemed safe to use in the comfort of your own home. However, let’s not forget that the Dental Association also recommends you undergo a consultation before applying the self-treatment. In case you already have dental issues, then using a certain product will only make matters worse, in most cases. In addition, these products might cover up a darkened tooth that would suggest you’re suffering from a more serious dental problem.
Too much bleaching can cause irreversible damage
While these adverse reactions tend to disappear as soon as you quit using whiteners, practitioners have also noticed several patients who suffered permanent tooth damage. A possible explanation for the irreversible deleterious effects on the enamel is that over-the-counter products are simply unable to match the potency of an in-office whitening procedure. When people don’t obtain the desired effects from their first tries, they will abuse the strips and trays, only to end up at the dentist’s office with various dental problems.
Some patients might argue that they obtained better results with more-expensive whitening products and, because they’re so convenient, there’s really no point in consulting a dental care practitioner on the matter. Without denying that some products do a better job than others, it’s a lot more healthy and safer to undergo a whitening procedure at the dentist’s office.
The biggest argument in this sense is that teeth whitening needs to be monitored, so that the active ingredients don’t weaken the enamel. If you simply must use OTC products, at least don’t forget to ask your dentist questions about the whitener you intend to apply.
Lastly, let’s not forget that the brightest white is not always the right shade of white for you! Schedule an appointment with us and we can guarantee a safe, painless and quick teeth whitening experience. Thanks to our simulator, we assure you that the white of your teeth will match your features and complexion!
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