Be careful with these new trends.
Trying to look our best and trying the latest in the beauty industry, we sometimes do not even think about the fact that this is harming … our teeth. It turns out that even the means for a dazzling smile can end up making it completely unattractive. And it’s also good if you do without visits to the dentist. Wday.ru has collected 6 fashionable habits that are dangerous for the teeth.
Fashion for everything organic and natural is now stronger than ever. The latest squeak is herbal toothpastes. They come in a wide variety of flavors, from aloe vera to fennel and wasabi. They are not harmful in and of themselves. But the problem is that such pastes do not contain fluoride. By the way, the same goes for most charcoal pastes. And an effective toothpaste must contain between 1350 and 1500 parts per million of fluoride to protect teeth from harmful bacteria – and therefore from tooth decay. Dentists have seen quite a few patients whose teeth began to decay after switching to herbal paste.
No, not the ones that a professional doctor puts you to hide teeth defects (although there are discussions about their dangers and benefits). And ideally white linings made of polypropylene and silicone, which can be bought on the Internet for an amount within a thousand – one and a half thousand rubles. You won’t wear them all the time, but for a date, a photo session, an important meeting, many consider this a lifesaver. And some do not take them off for several days. But dentists believe they can cause tooth decay. After all, pieces of food get stuck under them, plaque and bacteria accumulate.
Many do not go to the doctor for professional teeth cleaning, preferring to buy whitening trays and put them at home on their own. And there is nothing wrong with that, but only if you carefully read the composition of the whitening gel. The main active ingredient here is hydrogen peroxide. In a product for an ordinary consumer, it should be about 0,1% (this figure varies slightly for different countries), dentists can use substances with a share of about 6% in their work.
But on many packages (especially if you buy mouthguards online), this percentage may not be indicated or cleverly disguised. For example, only the content of carbamide peroxide may be written on the package. We’ll have to count: in this figure, hydrogen peroxide is 1/3.
If the content of the active ingredient is more than the permissible one, you simply run the risk of dissolving tooth enamel, and possibly also getting a chemical burn of the gums. The same goes for the whitening strips.
Oil rinsing is an Ayurvedic technique that promises to heal not only the teeth, but the entire body. To do this, you just need to rinse your mouth with coconut or any other oil once a day for 10-15 minutes.
But there is no real evidence that such a ritual somehow helps to improve one’s health. What’s more, one study linked the procedure to a rare form of pneumonia because the oil was inhaled into the lungs. So doctors still advise using special mouthwash. And if you want to use a natural product, just dissolve a spoonful of salt in a glass of boiled water, which has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
Do you want to lose weight? Make sure it doesn’t affect your teeth. For example, the favorite diet of many celebrities is to drink water with a little apple cider vinegar dissolved on an empty stomach. It should suppress appetite and lower cholesterol levels. The catch is that vinegar is acid. It softens and destroys tooth enamel. Especially if after such a “breakfast” you immediately went to brush your teeth – the brush along with the plaque can remove part of the enamel.
This is perhaps the strangest trend in dentistry in recent years. It is believed that rubbing charcoal paste into your teeth should make them look white.
Celebrities, including singer Nicole Scherzinger, say they use this hack all the time, and the number of toothpastes made with charcoal is huge today.
The problem is that charcoal is very abrasive. It will, of course, clean the enamel, but in addition, it will scratch it, partially or completely removing a thin layer. And here’s a surprise – the bottom layer of enamel is more yellow than the top one. And instead of a snow-white smile, you risk getting yellowed teeth. They are also very sensitive. “Remember, tooth enamel is not hair or nails, it will not grow back,” doctors warn.