If you are keen to get your teeth whitened, you will be in very good company. After all, who wouldn’t want to have a gleaming white smile that you feel proud of, looks attractive and ensures you feel confident about your appearance?
However, like nearly every good thing worth having, there are the right and wrong ways to go about it, with some poor advice out there from those whose desire to gain a social media following vastly exceeds their actual knowledge – and a fair number of money-grabbing charlatans too.
The right way to go about teeth whitening is to come to experts like us to have it done by skilled professionals in a safe and clean clinical setting. However, this is not advice you will get on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
It’s not just a problem here in the UK but across the world, especially the English-speaking part, so it should be no surprise to see the same concerns arising in a country like Australia. There, News.com’s columnist Doctor Zac has been warning of the dangers posed by online influencers.
Referring to the “avalanche” of tooth whitening treatment, he told a reader who admitted being “obsessed” with using tooth whitening strips in an attempt to emulate Kim Kardashian’s smile: “They are becoming a bit of a pest, and I feel are taking people down the wrong path. They all preach the same thing: DIY.”
Dr Zac argued that influencers should not be allowed to broadcast advice on any medical or dental topic unless they have qualifications.
Explaining the need to avoid over-using strips and other whitening methods, Dr Zac offered an inconvenient truth: that teeth will naturally go a pale yellow. That does not mean people should not have them whitened, but they should do so sparingly, as the hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide in whitening strips penetrates the enamel to remove stains beneath.
“While this process is generally safe when used as directed, overuse or misuse can lead to enamel erosion, making teeth more susceptible to decay and sensitivity,” the expert remarked.
It is not just the fact that whitening needs to be done carefully, sparingly, and by skilled hands; Dr Zac also warned against other ideas popularised on social media that are a waste of time. A prime example is mouthguards with LED lighting, which are proclaimed to enhance the effects of whitening methods but which he said have minimal impact.
If you are one of those people who follow these social media influencers and adverts, you may have seen plenty more strange ideas out there, such as the purple toothpaste launched last year amid much fanfare and backed by various celebrities (not surprisingly, Kim Kardashian was among them). Brands like Colgate have followed suit.
experts quickly established that it couldn’t possibly work for very long, since the idea of having purple was that this colour is at the opposite end of the spectrum to yellow and thus interaction with yellow teeth produces the image of whiteness. But as soon as the toothpaste washes off, the effects vanish, so one glass of water and it’s gone.
If you want whitening that works and is safe, get in touch with us today.
