Beware of Teeth Whitening

Swallowing Bleach

Standard tooth bleaching kits come with a mouth tray that may not fit snugly, which can result in the bleaching agent leaking. This can lead to ingestion of the bleaching agent, and it can also seep onto and irritate gum tissue.

Peroxides

All current tooth whitening products use peroxide to make your teeth white, even the laser using 'light-enhanced bleaching'; the lasers simply make the peroxides penetrate more deeply.

Peroxide, and other chemicals present in the bleach, can damage gum tissue and even cause nerve damage to the tissues inside the tooth pulp. They can also increase tooth sensitivity to cold and heat, and cause tooth decay and even tooth loss.

30 Times the Concentration

In Europe, an upper limit for peroxides in oral products has been set at 0.1 percent by weight. The United States, however, allows for 30 times that concentration. Many countries no longer allow the tooth bleaching products commonly used in the United States.