A teeth whitening question sliding its way into my DMs is a pretty regular occurrence at the minute. I don’t know if its because people are doing more Zoom calls or FaceTimes or if they just have more time to think about it, but the world and their wife seem to want teeth whitening and they want it NOW. People are obsessed with teeth whitening.

Teeth whitening is the process where we use products to break down staining that has become locked into the tooths surface. There are many different forms of teeth whitening, some are really safe and effective, some are old wives tales, and some are just plain mental.

Lets start with what everyone’s asking me about RN….baking soda.

I have debated whether or not to share this with you but I think its the only way to explain that I know what I’m talking about. Once, as a poor, penniless dental hygiene therapy student I dabbled in a bit of at home whitening. I did this because, all of my other classmates had previously been dental nurses, most of them had had whitening trays previously made and could whiten their teeth whenever they wanted. I felt self conscious and I wanted to fit it but at the times I couldn’t afford to have whitening trays made with my own Dentist. As a keen Pinterest-er I saw the baking soda method (which some of you who have messaged me have asked my opinion on) and gave it a try. I started using it on a small area and the gum above my teeth went BRIGHT WHITE. I was terrified, I thought I had burned my gum, I thought it was going to recede, queue lots and lots of crying in the bathroom and rinsing my mouth with cold water. Thankfully my gum colour returned to normal after a while, I calmed down and I lived to tell the tale but I was so cross with myself that I had let impatience and vanity jeopardise the health of my teeth and gums. And it didn’t even work.

But why doesn’t this work? We need to go right back to the beginning for this one.

Enamel is the bright white shiny structure that covers your teeth. Dentine is the layer underneath the enamel. It contains a lot of water so it is darker in colour. If your enamel is thinner the darker dentine will shine through and your teeth will look darker so they key to white teeth is holding onto as much of your enamel as possible. You can read more about holding onto enamel in my tooth wear blogs which are all linked here. Baking soda is abrasive, using it regularly will wear away your enamel and expose the dentine over time making your teeth DARKER not lighter. Also FYI using strawberries or lemon juice to whiten your teeth will do the same thing. Mixing the fruit and the baking soda together and cleaning your teeth, another level catastrophe.

I see a lot of people on Instagram and Facebook with little kind of lighted sports guards which all the celebs are endorsing to ‘whiten’ teeth. I cant say I have ever tried these so to be completely honest with you I can’t really give anything other than my opinion which would be that they seem too good to be true and probably are not worth the money.

I as well have tried the ‘at home’ whitening kits that you can get in the chemist where you make your own ‘boil & bite’ trays and whiten with gel. Legally, in the UK, you can not say any whitening products with an ingredient at an effective percentage to use at home without a prescription form a Dentist. Clear and simple. They will not work and you will not get the dramatic shade change you are expecting.

My top tip for whitening your teeth at home? Don’t do it.

Teeth staining, caused by tea, coffee, red wine, spicy food, smoking, vaping and using antibacterial mouth rinse like Corsodyl * is a little different and you can find out a little more about teeth staining on my blog post here. If stain stays on the surface of your enamel for long enough it can become locked into your tooth. SOME toothpastes may improve surface staining a little but quite often they can be abrasive and are 100% not suitable if you already have tooth wear. There are some toothpastes that remove stain gently via enzymes like the Curaprox Be You toothpaste. I’ve reviewed this and a few others over on my YouTube channel. In general I find patients just brush far too hard when they use stain preventing toothpaste. Honestly my advice would be cut out these foods, drinks and activities during lockdown if your noticing a lot of staining with the hope that staining won’t get any worse between now and when you see your Dentist or Dental Hygienist. Even when you can get to your next dental appointment there may be restrictions around what we can do as a lot of our procedures generate aerosols so you’ll have to bare with us on this at the moment we know as much as you do.

The best way to whiten your teeth is to have the process completed legally with a Dentist or a Dental Hygiene Therapist under the prescription of a Dentist.

Over the years I have seen many many patients who have had their teeth laser whitened. Sometimes my patients have had this treatment done outside of the UK. When you first look at laser whitening it seems to look pretty good, a dramatic shade change for your teeth in as little as 30 minutes, but lets look a little closer.

Imagine your tooth is a sponge in a bucket of water, if you lift the sponge out and squeeze the water out the sponge will look lighter than when you first started, this is pretty much what laser whitening is, laser whitening dehydrates your tooth making it look lighter than when you started. Where is this water? It is stuck in the dentine tubules under the enamel layer of your tooth. Now if you caught my blog on tooth sensitivity (if you didn’t you can catch it here) you will know that if you move the water in these tubules your tooth will let you know about it causing lots and lots of tooth sensitivity.

Lets go back to the sponge. If you put the sponge back in the bucket of water it will suck the water back up and go from a lighter colour to a darker colour, this process will happen quicker with a dry sponge than with a sponge that is already wet. Laser whitening again is a bit like this, after your teeth have been laser whitened you need to be careful what you eat and drink because your teeth are dying to replace the water that has been lost, so they can discolour again very quickly. Basically we are sticking to white foods only with laser whitening, no tea, no coffee, no red wine, no spicy food, no smoking, no vaping. Even if you avoid these foods drinks and activities your tooth will absorb this water up again eventually so you will probably need to repeat this process pretty regularly. For this reason this isn’t something I would recommend for my patients.

The best way to effectively have your teeth whitened is with whitening gel prescribed by your Dentist and with whitening trays custom made just for you. These gels pass through your enamel to the dentine and whiten your teeth. I have tried a few different systems from different brands, my personal favourite is the Enlighten Teeth Whitening System for a few reasons:

The results are money guaranteed - the shade of your teeth is taken before you have your whitening treatment and then you teeth will be treated to at least shade B1.
It works really well if you have teeth sensitivity which I do. There still might be some sensitivity but in my experience there’s much less with Enlighten than with other brands. The system comes with a desensitising toothpaste and desentitising swabs if you experience some sensitivity while you’re whitening.
Their whitening system is cruelty free.
You don’t need to change your diet during the whitening treatment or after.
It is 100% safe to use.

After having a dental exam I had some moulds taken of my teeth so I could have my custom whitening trays made. The trays came back in about 2 weeks and I started with my whitening gel. With the Enlighten Whitening System you get two types of whitening gel, 10% carbamide peroxide and 16% carbamide peroxide and these gels are designed to be used for 2 weeks. For the first week you use the 10% clear gel, and for the second week use the 16% gel. After this you have a quick 40 minute treatment at the dental practice and your teeth will be sparkling. I had this whitening treatment about 5 years ago, the first year after whitening I topped up with the Enlighten whitening gel every 2 months or so and now I use top up with the gel as often as I need to, usually before I go on holiday or go to a wedding. This whitening system is a bit more expensive but I think its totally worth it. If you would like a bit more info on Enlighten Teeth Whitening you can check out their webpage here or you can get this whitening treatment at Moira Cosmetic Dental.

So hopefully this has answered some of your questions about teeth whitening if you have any more please message me! One of the best ways to help keep your teeth as healthy and naturally white as possible is to follow a gold standard oral hygiene routine brushing twice a day for 2 minutes with either an electric or a manual toothbrush, timed using a timer and using something to clean in between your teeth at least once daily. Thanks so much for reading :).

*gifted products