Home teeth whitening ,Is it safe?Home teeth whitening ,Is it safe?

Every body in the world now want his teeth to be lighter in color. In our dental practice we receive hundreds of questions about teeth whitening or (dental bleaching) . Most of the people asking about teeth whitening are concerned mainly about teeth whitening safety.  As a clinical expert and scientific researcher in the field of esthetic dentistry i can say that no one could answer this question by  saying yes or no.

Sure it is better not to answer this question yourself , Ask your dentist he know your case, he knows your dental history and your dental state and sure he is the only one who can say if it is safe to use home dental bleaching trays or strips etc.

what if you just want to know more before you go to you dentist keep reading and i will discuss the most important issues about home teeth whitening safety.

Home teeth whitening(teeth bleaching) effect on tooth structure:

1-Tooth surface (enamel layer):

from the  inventing of home(night guard ) teeth whitening  by van Haywood et al in the late 80s the scientists is investigating it’s effect on tooth surface properties.After a thousand research is done concerning surface roughness, tooth surface roughness and chemical composition we can list the results in easy to understand words as follow

home teeth whitening if used properly  has little or no effect (and considered safe)on the  tooth surface of the healthy, non carious, non sensitive or properly filled tooth.

which means the researches stated  that there is slight increase in surface roughness, slight decrease in hardness and slight calcium lost from the teeth enamel. But all these bad effects are in the acceptable range and so home teeth whiting considered practically harmless. Also many researches stated that most of these effects is also reversible after months by the mineralizing effect of the human saliva(as human saliva rematerializing teeth enamel  as it contains calcium naturally ).

2-Home teeth whitening effect on gums( healthy gum) :

Although the recent teeth whiteners like home dental bleaching gel,  strips, trays etc. is much more safe than the old ones. We shouldn’t forget that dental whiteners are basically oxidative materials (peroxides). SO the patient must follow the manufacture instructions not to burn the gums  or causing permanent problem to the permanent gum problems .

But we can also say that using the current whitening  products  for home whitening properly is considered safe to the healthy gums .

so when can the teeth whitening harm your teeth :

although the general safety of teeth home whiting there is cases that dental whitening can be really harmful and should be done under close supervision from a specialized dentist.

1-improper  use of teeth whitening treatment:

Again dental bleaching it is a oxidative caustic materials use it in wisdom way and as advised by the manufacture or your dentist. Don’t keep it on tooth more than instructed by the manufacture this will cause porosity and surface roughness that can make the tooth have caries easily and also stained again very easily to a darker color.

2- carious teeth :

Using the teeth home whitening strips, trays etc. on tooth even with small caries can kill the tooth nerve(pulp) the free oxygen will penetrate the tooth via the carious spot and reach the dental pulp which can cause severe sensitivity or even pulp death witch will need root canal treatment to be treated. so if you have caries treat it first and bleach later

3- gum rescission:

Using home whitening on tooth with gingival rescission can cause extreme sensitivity  because the root surface is exposed and it is really sensitive and this sensitivity increased by the application of bleaching agents (tray,strip or any other form)

4-bad filling:

using tooth whitening agents on tooth with leaked bad filling can cause severe sensitivity and even pulp harm ,

5-sensitive tooth:

A sensitive tooth need to be treated first by desensitizers before attempting to bleaching it because the free oxygen from the bleaching agent can increase sensitivity and harm the pulp.

6-Pregnant woman:

No in formations about safety yet but teeth whitening is not an emergency treatment it can wait

7-weak creaked enamel also can a contra indication for dental bleaching

also if you started the whitening  treatment  and feel any remarkable pain, sensitivity, burning or allergy stop the treatment and contact your dentist

keep smiling show your teeth

DR. A. galal

dr.agalal@speakasp.net