Who wouldn’t want a pearly white Hollywood smile? Whitening procedures have become more and more popular in recent years and the reasons for that are evident – they look amazing. All of those celebrities and their picture-perfect smiles make you crave one such gorgeous smile as well.
If you have been on the Internet for some time, you know that it is a wonderful place where you can find a lot of useful information, but also the place where myths and tips that can do more damage than good are spreading like wildfires.
You have probably seen a lot of tips online for DIY teeth whitening that you can do at home.
We will take a look at some of the most common DIY teeth whitening procedures that you might have come across by now. We will bust the myths and look at the scientific facts of undertaking one such procedure at home.
Baking Soda for Quick Whitening
Using baking soda as a whitening agent is probably the most popular DIY teeth whitening method. While it is true that baking soda will give you a whiter smile quickly, you still need to be very careful.
Baking soda is considered safe for removing surface-level stains. However, due to its abrasive properties, if you overuse it, you might experience consequences such as weakened enamel, tooth sensitivity and an increased risk of cavities.
So it might be better to stick to baking soda for baking purposes only.
If you still decide to use this DIY method, don’t do it more than twice a week and don’t brush your teeth with the baking soda too aggressively.
Also, a friendly reminder that baking soda is not an alternative to toothpaste. Since it doesn’t contain fluoride, baking soda can’t prevent cavities and kill bacteria.
Rubbing Strawberries on Your Teeth
You have definitely seen this one – the myth suggests that rubbing strawberries on your teeth can make them whiter. This is actually true to a certain degree, but it doesn’t work in the way that you would like it to work.
Another, allegedly better, an alternative to this is making a paste out of ripe strawberries and mixing it with a bit of baking soda. Both alternatives won’t give you the results you are after and are likely to even do harm to your teeth.
Strawberries are acidic and the tooth enamel is not a great fan of acid. Do you know how dentists always say that fizzy drinks are bad for your teeth? That’s not the case only because of the sugar they contain, but also because of the acids. The acidic properties of the strawberries are similar to those in soft drinks and they can soften and damage the enamel.
Another thing you should keep in mind is to avoid brushing your teeth after eating fruit for at least 20 minutes. If you brush your teeth while the enamel is softened, you might end up causing damage to the protective surface of your teeth.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is found in most of the teeth whitening kits at different concentration levels. It is a bleaching agent so it can definitely whiten your teeth. However, there is a risk of damaging your teeth, especially if you are not well-informed of what you are doing.
In the end, you might get a bright smile indeed, but also end up with sensitive teeth, damaged enamel, and irritated gums.
Hydrogen peroxide that is sold as a brown-bottle liquid has 3% concentration. Some of the whitening products on the market might come at 10% concentration. While your initial thought might be “the more – the merrier”, you can seriously damage the protective enamel while on a pursuit for a quick and cheap way to get the desired whiteness.
As a part of a study, scientist experimented with different hydrogen peroxide concentrations on extracted human teeth. It was concluded that highly-concentrated hydrogen peroxide solutions cause damage not only to the gums and enamel but to the internal layers of the tooth if the solution is left on for too long.
Using the standard 3% hydrogen peroxide will not get you as far as you want to go with whitening. If you rinse with it at this level of concentration, it will be months before you see any improvement. In the meantime, your gums will definitely become irritated since hydrogen peroxide reacts with the tissues in the mouth and not in a good way.
The higher the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide, the more damage it can do to your teeth. Low concentration solutions are considered safe, yet you still shouldn’t use them more than twice a week as you can do irreversible damage to your teeth.
If you still decide to give this DIY method a go, after all, avoid rinsing and use a cotton bud instead. Dip the cotton bud in the hydrogen peroxide and gently go over your teeth. Be careful not to let the substance get in contact with the gums and rinse your mouth with cold water afterward.
Oil Pulling
Coconut oil has probably been one of the most used ingredients in the last few years. A lot of people believe in its benefits – some even believe in this product too much.
Oil pulling is often mentioned as an effective way of whitening your teeth without doing damage. As described, this method will pull out the bad bacteria from your mouth and when you spit out the oil mixture it will have a milky white color instead of being transparent as it was at the start. But according to the American Dental Association, there isn’t enough proof to support the alleged effectiveness of this DIY method. The evidence is insufficient and inconclusive, so at the moment this method is labeled as ineffective.
The good thing about oil pulling is the fact that it can’t do a lot of damage to your teeth as hydrogen peroxide can. Still, you should not use oil pulling as an alternative to brushing and flossing. If you do, you are increasing your risk of cavities since the coconut oil does not have the cleaning properties like toothpaste.
Whitening Kits
There are various whitening kits available on the market and truth be told, some of them can be effective for achieving good results. Still, in order not to do more damage than good, it is always best to ask a professional for their opinion and recommendation. As it was found, some of the products contain a lot more bleaching agent i.e. hydrogen peroxide than it is advisable – some going even for 230 times higher!
Additionally, if you go for a kit that includes a gel that is applied on a tray, you might be in for a lot of trouble. While whitening gels are regarded as safe, using them with just any tray can irritate your gums. Most such kits come with a generic tray that won’t fit everybody’s jawline. If the tray doesn’t fit well, the gel can get in contact with your gums and cause severe irritation. Additionally, if you apply too much of the gel which can often be the case, the gel can still reach sensitive areas in the mouth and cause problems.
If you decide to go for one such whitening kit, speak to your dentist first. Having custom-made trays is your best option since you will eliminate the risk of having the gel spread where you don’t want it to. Your dentist can also give you recommendations of what gel is the best one to use and how much of the product you should apply on the tray.
Professional Teeth Whitening
While all of us would love to have that sparkling smile with little to no effort at the comfort of our own home, having a professional do that for you is the best bet.
To start with, professional teeth whitening is completely safe and all of the chemicals used in the process are approved. Even though hydrogen peroxide is used, the dental professionals know what concentrations they should go for in order to achieve the desired effect and they will certainly do the procedure in a way that won’t result in irritated gums or damaged teeth.
Additionally, a good dentist will be able to tell you what exactly you need to get the desired shade of white. Are your teeth stained from coffee and cigarettes? You might not even need teeth bleaching, but rather only surface polishing to remove the stains. If you are doing whitening at home you might choose a product which has much higher hydrogen peroxide concentration than you actually need for what you are trying to achieve.
Leave this to the professionals instead of doing it yourself. The effects of the whitening process in a professional dental clinic will be dramatic and instant as opposed to the painstaking DIY whitening that can prove harmful in the long run.
That perfectly white smile doesn’t need to come at the cost of damaging your teeth. Put your trust in a professional and smile without any worries!
Why DIY Might be Bad for You?
January 30, 2019
Dentist, Lifestyle
No Comments
Guest Post
Teeth Whitening: Why DIY Might be Bad for You?
Who wouldn’t want a pearly white Hollywood smile? Whitening procedures have become more and more popular in recent years and the reasons for that are evident – they look amazing. All of those celebrities and their picture-perfect smiles make you crave one such gorgeous smile as well.
If you have been on the Internet for some time, you know that it is a wonderful place where you can find a lot of useful information, but also the place where myths and tips that can do more damage than good are spreading like wildfires.
You have probably seen a lot of tips online for DIY teeth whitening that you can do at home.
We will take a look at some of the most common DIY teeth whitening procedures that you might have come across by now. We will bust the myths and look at the scientific facts of undertaking one such procedure at home.
Baking Soda for Quick Whitening
Using baking soda as a whitening agent is probably the most popular DIY teeth whitening method. While it is true that baking soda will give you a whiter smile quickly, you still need to be very careful.
Baking soda is considered safe for removing surface-level stains. However, due to its abrasive properties, if you overuse it, you might experience consequences such as weakened enamel, tooth sensitivity and an increased risk of cavities.
So it might be better to stick to baking soda for baking purposes only.
If you still decide to use this DIY method, don’t do it more than twice a week and don’t brush your teeth with the baking soda too aggressively.
Also, a friendly reminder that baking soda is not an alternative to toothpaste. Since it doesn’t contain fluoride, baking soda can’t prevent cavities and kill bacteria.
Rubbing Strawberries on Your Teeth
You have definitely seen this one – the myth suggests that rubbing strawberries on your teeth can make them whiter. This is actually true to a certain degree, but it doesn’t work in the way that you would like it to work.
Another, allegedly better, an alternative to this is making a paste out of ripe strawberries and mixing it with a bit of baking soda. Both alternatives won’t give you the results you are after and are likely to even do harm to your teeth.
Strawberries are acidic and the tooth enamel is not a great fan of acid. Do you know how dentists always say that fizzy drinks are bad for your teeth? That’s not the case only because of the sugar they contain, but also because of the acids. The acidic properties of the strawberries are similar to those in soft drinks and they can soften and damage the enamel.
Another thing you should keep in mind is to avoid brushing your teeth after eating fruit for at least 20 minutes. If you brush your teeth while the enamel is softened, you might end up causing damage to the protective surface of your teeth.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is found in most of the teeth whitening kits at different concentration levels. It is a bleaching agent so it can definitely whiten your teeth. However, there is a risk of damaging your teeth, especially if you are not well-informed of what you are doing.
In the end, you might get a bright smile indeed, but also end up with sensitive teeth, damaged enamel, and irritated gums.
Hydrogen peroxide that is sold as a brown-bottle liquid has 3% concentration. Some of the whitening products on the market might come at 10% concentration. While your initial thought might be “the more – the merrier”, you can seriously damage the protective enamel while on a pursuit for a quick and cheap way to get the desired whiteness.
As a part of a study, scientist experimented with different hydrogen peroxide concentrations on extracted human teeth. It was concluded that highly-concentrated hydrogen peroxide solutions cause damage not only to the gums and enamel but to the internal layers of the tooth if the solution is left on for too long.
Using the standard 3% hydrogen peroxide will not get you as far as you want to go with whitening. If you rinse with it at this level of concentration, it will be months before you see any improvement. In the meantime, your gums will definitely become irritated since hydrogen peroxide reacts with the tissues in the mouth and not in a good way.
The higher the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide, the more damage it can do to your teeth. Low concentration solutions are considered safe, yet you still shouldn’t use them more than twice a week as you can do irreversible damage to your teeth.
If you still decide to give this DIY method a go, after all, avoid rinsing and use a cotton bud instead. Dip the cotton bud in the hydrogen peroxide and gently go over your teeth. Be careful not to let the substance get in contact with the gums and rinse your mouth with cold water afterward.
Oil Pulling
Coconut oil has probably been one of the most used ingredients in the last few years. A lot of people believe in its benefits – some even believe in this product too much.
Oil pulling is often mentioned as an effective way of whitening your teeth without doing damage. As described, this method will pull out the bad bacteria from your mouth and when you spit out the oil mixture it will have a milky white color instead of being transparent as it was at the start. But according to the American Dental Association, there isn’t enough proof to support the alleged effectiveness of this DIY method. The evidence is insufficient and inconclusive, so at the moment this method is labeled as ineffective.
The good thing about oil pulling is the fact that it can’t do a lot of damage to your teeth as hydrogen peroxide can. Still, you should not use oil pulling as an alternative to brushing and flossing. If you do, you are increasing your risk of cavities since the coconut oil does not have the cleaning properties like toothpaste.
Whitening Kits
There are various whitening kits available on the market and truth be told, some of them can be effective for achieving good results. Still, in order not to do more damage than good, it is always best to ask a professional for their opinion and recommendation. As it was found, some of the products contain a lot more bleaching agent i.e. hydrogen peroxide than it is advisable – some going even for 230 times higher!
Additionally, if you go for a kit that includes a gel that is applied on a tray, you might be in for a lot of trouble. While whitening gels are regarded as safe, using them with just any tray can irritate your gums. Most such kits come with a generic tray that won’t fit everybody’s jawline. If the tray doesn’t fit well, the gel can get in contact with your gums and cause severe irritation. Additionally, if you apply too much of the gel which can often be the case, the gel can still reach sensitive areas in the mouth and cause problems.
If you decide to go for one such whitening kit, speak to your dentist first. Having custom-made trays is your best option since you will eliminate the risk of having the gel spread where you don’t want it to. Your dentist can also give you recommendations of what gel is the best one to use and how much of the product you should apply on the tray.
Professional Teeth Whitening
While all of us would love to have that sparkling smile with little to no effort at the comfort of our own home, having a professional do that for you is the best bet.
To start with, professional teeth whitening is completely safe and all of the chemicals used in the process are approved. Even though hydrogen peroxide is used, the dental professionals know what concentrations they should go for in order to achieve the desired effect and they will certainly do the procedure in a way that won’t result in irritated gums or damaged teeth.
Additionally, a good dentist will be able to tell you what exactly you need to get the desired shade of white. Are your teeth stained from coffee and cigarettes? You might not even need teeth bleaching, but rather only surface polishing to remove the stains. If you are doing whitening at home you might choose a product which has much higher hydrogen peroxide concentration than you actually need for what you are trying to achieve.
Leave this to the professionals instead of doing it yourself. The effects of the whitening process in a professional dental clinic will be dramatic and instant as opposed to the painstaking DIY whitening that can prove harmful in the long run.
That perfectly white smile doesn’t need to come at the cost of damaging your teeth. Put your trust in a professional and smile without any worries!
Dentist