Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
May be natural, but so is body odor and we shower and use deodorants.
Yellow teeth don't look good, it's just that simple, and whitening isn't expensive for most people - just go buy a box of a generic whitening kit from a drugstore. If it works for you, you win the whitening lottery.
Read the directions, the warnings, follow them.
I can't use most of them, as they hurt my teeth (I'm sensitive to the ingredients).
No, you're objectively wrong on this. It is more akin to cosmetic surgery because it is harmful for your teeth and potentially dangerous. This isn't a normal hygiene standard.
My dentist disagrees. He recommends moderation, but says it is not harmful, much less dangerous.
I do it myself, about once a year, and I don't have any issues at all.
My dentist said I could do it more often if I felt I needed to, 3-4 times a year, and my enamel would be fine, as long as I followed the directions.
I tried googling it and found no source that corroborated your statement. (I did find a Mayo Clinic and NYTimes article that both support my dentist's claim.)
I'm willing to listen if you can provide an article, but your "objectively wrong" comment seems a little, well, objectively wrong.
I have been told by my dentist that it can permanently damage your tooth enamel. I did a quick search and found an NIH study on enamel softening. It looks at hardness, but that is all. I only read the object and the abstract, but that part didn't mention enamel thickness. The study mentions that hardness is restored after about a week.
I would generally advise caution and just take your dentists advice about these things. I will admit I am generally biased about this and it definitely can be harmful if not done correctly.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4319295/
They never called it hygiene.
It is indeed potentially harmful, but qualified, legitimate dentists will have the answers needed if it's ok for any given person.
I think comparing whitening to bathing and using deodorant is calling it normal hygiene. Not bathing literally leads to worse health outcomes.
That being said, you're correct, I definitely have a strong bias towards this. I have been told by my dentist to not do it because it is damaging to the enamel. Consulting your dentist is definitely a good move.