# Receding Gums & Whiter Teeth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/receding-gums-whiter-teeth/56313>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 1, 2001, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/receding-gums-whiter-teeth/56313 "2001-03-01T02:38:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/receding-gums-whiter-teeth/56313/1 "2001-03-01T02:38:40Z")

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(Yawn) Here goes another dental thread . . .

I have _premature_ receding gums and dentists over the years have suggested the causes could be either my once wearing orthodontia or perhaps my brushing my teeth too hard (wrong.) But what I’ve noticed over the years is that at night, my saliva is _very_ acidic and I’m wondering if there is any evidence that excessively acidic saliva promotes gum recession–by basically dissolving gum tissue at a very slow rate. (Recently, I’ve made it a practice to drink water if I wake up in the middle of the night, which helps for awhile.)

Second fascinating question…

We all know that those super-concentrated hydrogen peroxide treatment sessions at the dentists will brighten your smile and make the ladies swoon. Question is, will much-weaker over-the-counter HP do the same thing if used consistently over a period of weeks for a few minutes at a time?

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/receding-gums-whiter-teeth/56313/2 "2001-03-01T11:43:30Z")

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Didn’t find anything on tne acidic saliva/gum recession tie-up (just stuff that says, if you eat acidic foods with gum recession, you’re asking for a whole lot of trouble), but I found this scintillating little [site](http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.therabrite.com/peroxidelasers.htm+acidic+saliva+gum+recession&hl=en) all about the lovely things hydrogen peroxide can do to your pearlies.

> [@](#):
>
> Permanent Nerve Damage and Tooth Loss: It is possible for the user to experience nerve damage to the tooth upon continued long-term use of these peroxide whitening agents. This takes place when the peroxide agents penetrate healthy enamel and dentin and flow directly to the pulp chamber. Secondly, users who have gum recession are very susceptible to this type of damage because there is no enamel to protect the exposed root surface, which is made of softer cementum. Treatments of choice to “repair” this problem are root canal or tooth extraction.

Lovely. Seems peroxide reacts in your mouth with good ol’ saliva to make uric acid. You know, the stuff which causes gout.

This is a commercial site, but hey, white teeth surely can’t be **that** necessary …

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/receding-gums-whiter-teeth/56313/3 "2001-03-01T16:38:45Z")

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Could be you brush too often or your toothbrush is not soft enough.

At any rate, you should ask a dentist what to do.