Teeth Whitening Dangers

Many people feel having bright, white teeth is essential to their image and with lots of over-the-counter products available these days to help them achieve their goal, some are using too much of them, exposing themselves to potential dental problems.


"You're smiling," Sonja Vigneux, of Syracuse, said. "They got nice bright white teeth and, just their whole face glows and shines and makes you want to approach them."


Americans love white teeth. And nowadays, they don't have to go to the dentist to get those pearly whites. Americans can just walk to the nearest pharmacy. This year, consumers will spend more than 1.5 billion dollars on over-the-counter teeth whitening products.


But Dentists say consumers need to be aware that, at the end of the day, they're putting chemicals in their mouth that could cause problems when consumers use too many of these products. Katrina Devis is a graduate student at Syracuse University. She says she tried an over-the-counter whitening product once and says it made her teeth hurt.


"It was horrible," Devis said. "I mean, it made my teeth white but at the same time it made my teeth very sensitive so that wasn't something I thought was a good investment after a while."


Every over-the-counter teeth whitening product has a warning label, reminding people of serious side effects. Devis says she followed the instructions, but not everyone does.

The Dangers

Use too much of an over-the-counter whitening product and you could experience gum irritation, teeth sensitivity, and the rare but irreversible, teeth translucency. Dr. Lynwood Bennerson, a Syracuse dentist, says people need to realize the damage they can cause to their teeth. "The most common side-effect would be hyper sensitivity which is your teeth becoming very sensitive to hot or cold," he said. "It can be extreme, it can be very slight depending on the enamel makeup of the persons teeth."


Dr. Bennerson offers professional bleaching in his practice, which is more intense and expensive than an over-the-counter product. He says despite their best efforts, people can only get so much improvement using the products they bought in a store.


"Those products are self limiting," he said. "They're probably not going to let you go any further than a certain point for liability reasons to the company."

Why Are People Doing This?

But why are some people willing to risk the long-term health of their teeth just so they can have some pearly whites for a period of time? In an msnbc.com article last year, people said the perfect teeth of Hollywood stars make them feel theirs are inadequate. Some also reported to feeling addicted to the products because they feel their teeth could always be whiter.

"People who have very white teeth, get so many compliments that they want to have it even whiter," Tibor Palfai, a professor of psychology at Syracuse University, said.

But lots of Hollywood stars have porcelain veneers, which are layers of tooth-colored material, and it's impossible to get regular teeth as white as clean snow. But Dr. Bennerson says, if used correctly, over-the-counter teeth whitening products do work and won't cause any damage.