I’m a chocoholic, and there’s no doubt that my teeth could use a bit of whitening, beyond the normal twice-a-year cleaning and polishing I get from my dentist. I’m half-considering switching over to a whitening toothpaste. However, I’ve always been wary of using the so-called whitening toothpastes, out of (perhaps unfounded) fear that the extra “grit” that’s in those toothpastes may, in the long run, damage your teeth’s enamel.
So, what’s the Straight Dope on using these whitening toothpastes? I’m sure many of you use them – have any of you experienced any increasing sensitivity or any other issues from the long-term use of the grittier toothpastes? Can I really rub off or damage my enamel by using whitening toothpastes?
Do they in fact use abrasives? I don’t know what’s in a “whitening” toothpaste. They even make “whitening” heads for my electric toothbrush. I’d assumed the toothpastes used less of whatever is in the whitening strips from Crest and others. I think you have to let those sit on your teeth for a while, and I don’t see any point to doing that with an abrasive, so I figured it was some sort of chemical bleach.
I tried using Crest’s “Pro-Health” toothpaste a few weeks ago, and comparing it to the regular, non-whitening toothpastes, it definitely contained more “grit,” which I presume are some sort of micro-abrasives used to more effectively remove stains from teeth. Of course, the key question is whether those micro-abrasives can ruin enamel if used over a long period of time…
I have compared the labels on the regular and whitening toothpastes and indeed it seems like the difference is a harsher abrasive in the whitening toothpaste. I cannot use these whitening toothpastes because the harsher abrasive hurts my teeth! So I am thinking that no, it probably cannot be good for your teeth… I wonder what the straight dope is on this is? Interesting question…
Well, now I’m all confused because of the cites above. A few years back I went to the dentist thinking I had a mouth full of cavities (never had one before in my life) and it turns out my teeth were just sensitive.
The dentist asked if I had recently switched to whitening toothpaste, which I had. After switching to normal toothpaste, the sensitivty went away. Now, of course, normal toothpaste doesn’t exist, you have to get Sensodyne for it not to be “whitening” toothpaste. Plus, the last tube of toothpaste I bought, Crest Sensitivity or some crap, is for sensitivity and whitening! Well, now my teeth hurt again.
I dunno what the means for my enamel, but the pain wasn’t cool, so I’d personally be wary of whitening toothpastes.
I got my teeth professionally whitened a year ago, and my dentist recommended me to use whitening toothpaste, any type I liked. I had some teeth-sensitivity issues for a while after the professional whitening, and all the types of sensitivity toothpaste I used said to not use it for more than two weeks, I’m not sure why…and most did nothing for the sensitivity (cold, chocolate). Finally said fine, I’ll try whitening toothpastes, no sensitivity add-in. I’ve only got mild sensitivity problems now, about the level I had before the professional whitening, and it’s keeping my teeth white, and I’ve had no other issues. And my dentist is a great guy for me anyway, and is the only dentist I’ve ever had that makes sure I have enough painkiller in my mouth for a cavity or two and not griping at me for whimpering, so I trust him and the citations here that it’s likely fine if you have no adverse effects with it.
Actually, I’ve been waiting for Tom’s of Maine to release their sensitive-teeth toothpaste with fluoride for years. Seriously, I’ve sent them an e-mail every year since 1997 or so. Each time, the response is the same: we are working on it and developing it takes time, as well as certification from the FDA (due to the fluoride).
I know the cite you gave is from a dental school and all, but how can whitening toothpaste, which feels substantially more grittier than their non-whitening counterparts, be possibly less abrasive? It just seems to fly in the face of logic…
Actually, that was my cite. I don’t have any independent knowledge on the subject, but I found this, which seems to qualify or contradict the dental school cite, at least as a general proposition:
