The Truth About Tooth Whitening Toothpastes

Understandably popular, but just how effective are they really?

With warmer weather coming in the months ahead, many of us will be attending more social events and going away on holiday. It’s perhaps not surprising then, that products that claim to make us more attractive and feel better about ourselves are given even more prominence on the shelves of shops that stock them. Advertising also makes us more aware, so that when we’re shopping, we tend to notice and are therefore more likely to buy.

One of these products that has become more popular over the years is the teeth whitening toothpaste. We all want to have healthy teeth anyway, so it seems to make sense to buy one that also makes our teeth look nicer as well; a ‘win win’ situation. In today’s blog we are going to look at the facts behind the claims to discover how well they do work.

The claims

The claims such as ‘deeply whiten’ or ‘whiter teeth in 5 days’ are very tempting, and, as is usually the case in advertising, not entirely untrue. Companies can be fined and made to pull campaigns if they are shown to be untrue so they have to be careful. What they don’t have to do though is go into any detail about the claim. The reality is that, in the case of teeth whitening toothpastes, the claims are true but not to the extent that you probably expect them to be when you purchase them. Let us take a look at the reasons for this now.

Surface cleaning

The reality is that most of the improvement in the colour of your teeth when using these products comes from the removal of some of the staining from your teeth. More complex improvement of the colour of the inner part of the teeth is much less likely for reasons we will see a little later.

To improve stain removal, many of these toothpastes include additional abrasive elements that help to remove them. While this can help to improve the appearance of your smile, there is a risk that the abrasive elements can also cause damage to the tooth enamel. This in turn not only means that the surface is rougher, making it more likely to attract future staining, but also increases the risk of tooth sensitivity and even decay. This is particularly so if these types of toothpastes are used over-zealously.

‘Older’ teeth

Even if all surface staining is removed, patients past a certain age are likely to find that their teeth start to discolour, not due to surface staining, but due to a darkening of the dentin layer of the tooth (just beneath the enamel). As this darkens, it starts to show through. No amount of brushing will improve this.

To whiten this part of the tooth means ‘bleaching’ this inner part. Care has to be taken when using bleach for safety reasons. Because of this, teeth whitening toothpastes are only allowed to include up to 0.1% of this ingredient, usually in the form of hydrogen peroxide. Compare this with the fact that our Chelmsford cosmetic dentists can use products that contain up to 6% of this ingredient and the difference is obvious. In addition to this, a professional ‘at home’ whitening allows the whitening gel to be in contact with your teeth for a few hours a day while toothpaste has a much shorter contact time.

Inevitably then, your teeth will be whitened due to ‘some’ contact if you use one of these toothpastes, but it is likely to be minimal in many cases.

Is it a waste of money?

This depends on what you expect. We would certainly advise you against using a toothpaste that has excessive abrasive elements in it as this could cause permanent damage to your teeth. Those that have the 0.1% bleaching agent aren’t going to make a huge improvement to the colour of your teeth, but they could be used to maintain a whiteness, such as after having a teeth whitening procedure at Blue Sky Dental. This might help the whiteness remain a little longer before the treatment needs to be repeated.

All in all then, while there may be small benefits to using these toothpastes for some people, in most cases, you are likely not to see the results that you probably hope to do.

Can we help?

Simply put, yes we can. As mentioned earlier, due to the fact that the treatment is being applied and monitored by professionals, stronger teeth bleaching agents are allowed to be used. Used incorrectly, hydrogen peroxide causes permanent damage to the tooth along with burns to the soft tissue of the mouth. Not only is it safer to have a professional teeth whitening treatment but the results will be significantly better too, with the whiteness improved by several shades. We are also able to use a chairside method to improve it further and help you get that ‘celebrity smile’ should you wish to do so.

Some people might be deterred by the more ‘ultra whiteness’ of some treatments that they have seen but we can adjust the improvements according to your wishes. Quite a few people prefer to have more subtle improvements and we can work with whatever you want.

If you would like to have whiter teeth and are interested about what you have read, why not contact us for an initial chat? If you wish to take it further, we can book you in for an initial consultation to discuss things in more detail.

To contact our Chelmsford dental practice, please call Blue Sky Dental on 01245 211070 and speak to one of our friendly reception team.