20 Things That Can Ruin Your Smile… con’t - Dr. Charles Bell

18. Overzealous Whitening:

It is not clear whether constant bleaching erodes tooth enamel or not. In general it is felt that when done in sensible moderation, the enamel remineralizes its surface and does not experience any permanent damage. It can however cause increased tooth sensitivity when done too often.

I had a patient that I believe was almost addicted to tooth bleaching. He always wanted to be constantly bleaching because his teeth looked yellow to him. By any objective standard his teeth were almost neon brilliant (think Ross in Friends), but not to him. I finally had to tell him that we would not provide him with anymore bleach and he left our practice upset that we were not meeting his needs.

You should also be judicious with some whitening toothpastes and gels that contain abrasive ingredients that can increase tooth sensitivity. In my opinion you are better off using a standard fluoridated toothpaste and bleach you teeth now and then as opposed to constantly assaulting them with whitening toothpastes on a daily basis.

There are a few proven effective methods to safely bleach your teeth. You should ask your dentist about his recommendations. I personally would not recommend anything sold over the counter or especially on the Internet.

19. Soft Drinks:

I know we are going through a national heat wave right now and a cold soft drink sounds very appealing. The problem is that soft drinks are very high in sugar, which increases your risk for tooth decay. Also the dark colas can stain your teeth (maybe that's why you need to bleach so much?). Also the acidity of some of the citric type drinks literally is like bathing your teeth in acid. Ask your dentist about some of the cases of massive decay they have seen caused by daily soft drink abuse (like a six pack of Mountain Dew every day).

Meinecke recommends drinking soda through a straw and rinsing with water or chewing sugar-free gum after finishing to neutralize the acids. Also as mentioned previously in this blog, you should wait at least an hour before brushing.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of blogs and have found some interesting information. I would like to acknowledge Kristin Koch at Health.com. I came across this information earlier this month and thought that sharing it with you would be beneficial.