Toothpaste+

[Aquila]

Has anyone else had a similar experience to me?

A few months ago I looked in the mirror and decided that my teeth just weren't anywhere near as white as those belonging to the people on TV, so I went down to the drugstore and bought one of those tooth-whitening kits, the kind with a pen, not the strips. You squeeze the stuff on before you go to bed and it works while you sleep, and in two weeks you're supposed to look like the people on TV. You can't smoke or kiss anyone after putting it on.
The first night I noticed a slight tingling in my canines and molars but thought that it was just a sign that the stuff was working.
The next afternoon, the tingling has become quite pronounced, but I thought oh well, beauty entails sacrifice, so never mind. So I put the stuff on the second night. JEEZ...it took my ages to get to sleep as the tingling had progressed to a dull pain in 4 or 5 of my teeth. By the next day, I had a full blown toothache in one side of my face and had to take tylenol just to function. I went to the dentist who gave me an X-ray and said I was fine apart from some peridontal recession. He gave me some Sensodyne toothpaste and said that the pain would probably go away. I stopped using the whitening pen but the toothache just seemed to get worse. After two days on Tylenol, and also trying Naprosyn (Alleve) I called my dentist again and he said I should get a thorough exam by another dentist. So I had a very high tech x-ray by a dentist who wanted to do a root-canal.
Finally, I woke up to the fact that the pain might be due to my coninued use of a toothpaste with "whitening gel" - the main ingredient of which is hydrogen peroxide. The stuff must have gotten though my enamel (which had already been weakened by the whitening pen) and it felt like it was literally burning away my tooth-nerve. It was EXCRUTIATING.

It's probably all due to my vanity, but I do think that there should be stronger warning labels on these whitening products. The product did have a very small section in the instructions, but I think that it should have printed in large red type on the front of the box.
Also, I use Tom's toothpaste, which is one of the few without sacharin or sweeteners, but still contains the foaming agent sodium lauryl sulfate, which many people find aggravates mouth abrasions. Why can't we buy a toothpaste without this chemical?

 

[athon]

Firstly, I doubt there is a connection between the pain you've described and using peroxide bleaching on your teeth. Peridontal recession exposes nerves near the gumline, which hurt like hell when stimulated. I can't claim to know what might have exasperated the recession, but it might be coincidental. The strength of the peroxide in whitening substances is pretty weak, and I can't see it seeping into the tooth and reaching the nerve to stimulate it.

To your second point, there are toothpastes out there which don't have SDL. I suffer from mouth ulcers regularly (have on right now, in fact, and man, it's bugging me!), and have considered getting some, however I don't feel that it has had any real effect on the state of my ulcers. If you do believe it aggravates them, swap.

Athon

 

[Chris Haynes]

Has anyone else had a similar experience to me?

A few months ago I looked in the mirror and decided that my teeth just weren't anywhere near as white as those belonging to the people on TV, ....

It's probably all due to my vanity, but I do think that there should be stronger warning labels on these whitening products. The product did have a very small section in the instructions, but I think that it should have printed in large red type on the front of the box.
Also, I use Tom's toothpaste, which is one of the few without sacharin or sweeteners, but still contains the foaming agent sodium lauryl sulfate, which many people find aggravates mouth abrasions. Why can't we buy a toothpaste without this chemical?

Ow... So sorry to hear about your pain.

Actually, teeth are not white. They are various colors of ivory, the "white" teeth in the movies and TV are usually enhanced by types of film they use (and other things). In my humble opinion getting your teeth cleaned twice a year along with regular brushing should be enough. Though I do know someone whose teeth were permanently darkened by antibiotics when he was young, so he had those taken care when he was out of school and employed (I don't know how, while he was in graduate school his front teeth were brown, after he was a lawyer for a couple of years they were white).

Sodium lauryl sulfate is just a detergent. It is the main ingredient in my Orvus paste quilt "soap" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_lauryl_sulfate .

Anyway... you can just avoid all of that by using a combination of salt and baking soda, because all you really need is the abrasion to get the food crud off of your teeth. That was what my step-mother used to do. I also have a recipe for a toothpowder from an old Make it Yourself book I bought years ago. It calls for 1 cup of powdered arrowroot, 3 tablespoons of orrisroot powder, 10 drops of oil of lemon and 5 drops of oil of clove. Mix it all up. (by the way, that was one of the least nasty toothpaste recipes... one required charcoal, another at powdered pumice, many required precipitated chalk... and some included honey! The latter not being the best for keeping plaque away).

Good luck.

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Another vilification of SLS I see...

Keith Green and his colleagues simply made the not-at-all-surprising observation that if there is already a chemical or physical injury to the cornea (or any tissue), a large concentration of the detergent slows down the healing. In his study, the group shaved pieces off the outer surface of the eyes of rabbits. Not surprisingly, pouring shampoo detergent into the eyes interfered with healing.

http://www.pathguy.com/sls.htm


There was obviously a condition already present that was aggravated by the ingredients in the tooth whitening. Use an alternative if you are paranoid, but check the reasoning of your fears.

 

[Aquila]

....you can just avoid all of that by using a combination of salt and baking soda, because all you really need is the abrasion to get the food crud off of your teeth.

Thanks. I'm now using Tom's baking soda version (without the whitening gel which seems so popular nowadays) and have had no problem.

Re the gum-line recession, does anybody know if taking extra calcium or Vitamin C will stop this or "grow back" whatever has receded? As mentioned in my other posts I'm a bit of a health food nut (or some might say nutcase) and haven't drunk milk for 20 years. My bones seem to be fine and if anything I've gotten slightly taller, maybe from yoga, walking and sunlight.

 

[Buckaroo]

Re the gum-line recession, does anybody know if taking extra calcium or Vitamin C will stop this or "grow back" whatever has receded?

Sorry, but no. Once this tissue is gone, it will not grow back. And the bummer is that, ironically, over-agressive oral hygiene can cause the recession. However, there are some surgical techniques that work like a charm to replace lost tissue. Google, for example, "subepithelial connective tissue graft."

 

[Hagrok]

Keith Green and his colleagues simply made the not-at-all-surprising observation that if there is already a chemical or physical injury to the cornea (or any tissue), a large concentration of the detergent slows down the healing. In his study, the group shaved pieces off the outer surface of the eyes of rabbits. Not surprisingly, pouring shampoo detergent into the eyes interfered with healing.

Wow, I'm usually not one to fault animal testing, but that sounds horrific.

As to the original post, I had similar aching using some of that whitener gel with the tooth trays you'd put it in. It went away after I stopped using the stuff.

 

[Mr. Gruff]

Firstly, I doubt there is a connection between the pain you've described and using peroxide bleaching on your teeth. Peridontal recession exposes nerves near the gumline, which hurt like hell when stimulated. I can't claim to know what might have exasperated the recession, but it might be coincidental. The strength of the peroxide in whitening substances is pretty weak, and I can't see it seeping into the tooth and reaching the nerve to stimulate it.

No! Google "pulpitis" and "peroxide", and see what comes up. There should be something that states there is a link between the two. Pulpitis, or toothache, is a well known side-effect of peroxide whitening kits. It is usually reversible, and simply disappears on its own. However, if the dentist wanted to do root canal treatment, he probably thought it was irreversible, which I've never heard of from bleaching, although it may exist. I know from personal experience that bleaching can cause the kind of symptoms associated with irreversible pulpitis-e.g. spontaneous shooting pain. Recession sometimes causes exposed cementum, which may contain nerve fibres and gives pain, however, in this case, I would assume it to be more likely to be peroxide-induced pulpitis.

Re toothpaste - Ideally salt and baking soda should not be used - it is not just a case of getting the "crud off your teeth". Toothpaste contains fluoride, which helps to remineralise enamel when it has been demineralised.

 

[Chris Haynes]

...Re toothpaste - Ideally salt and baking soda should not be used - it is not just a case of getting the "crud off your teeth". Toothpaste contains fluoride, which helps to remineralise enamel when it has been demineralised.

But what about the effect on our precious bodily fluids?

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Wow, I'm usually not one to fault animal testing, but that sounds horrific.

Yeah, we gotta save the bunnies. I wanted to skin the testers for not only shaving eyeballs, but pouring in an irritant. Still the point is relevant, if you have some aggravation, then detergent will be like pouring salt in a wound, you'll suddenly notice the wound. You don't blame the salt for causing the already existing wound though.

Yet, I don't wonder why researchers go to such extremes to prove a point that should be obvious, since most people don't seem to want to use common sense anymore. Just jump to suggested conclusions, never mind obvious cause and effect.

I guess I'm tired of the villification of something that is found in "mainstream" products in order to sell "non-mainstream". I could easily say that chloride is a horrible chemical the we should all avoid...so buy my chloride free salt, bwahhhaaaa. It's like trying to sell dna free food... mwahaaaa...

I posted the link in hopes that people would see that SLS is constantly villified, even though:

Lauryl sulfate is made by joining sulfate and lauric acid, two substances which are both abundant throughout the body in health.

 

[apocalypse]

Firstly, I doubt there is a connection between the pain you've described and using peroxide bleaching on your teeth...Athon

Actually whitening kits/toothpastes and tooth sensitivity are quite common.

Before I found this out, I got a free tube of a whitening toothpaste and after a few days of use, drinking hot or cold water liquids became quite painful.

My sister is a dentist and I asked her about this and the first question she asked was "have you changed toothpastes?" to which I stated I had. The next words out of her mouth were "whitening toothpaste?". I said yes, and she said since these have become more and more popular she has had more and more patients coming in for toothaches and shooting pains. She informs them to go back to their normal toothpaste and if the pain remains after a week, schedule another appointment. Nearly all don't schedule another appointment.

 

[apocalypse]

Sorry, but no. Once this tissue is gone, it will not grow back..."

Depending on how bad the damage is, it can grow back. A number of years ago I used to aggressively brush my gums and had a little recession in the gum line. My dentist told me to lighten up on the pressure I used and after 6 months I had my next checkup and the gum depth was back to normal.

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Actually whitening kits/toothpastes and tooth sensitivity are quite common.

Before I found this out, I got a free tube of a whitening toothpaste and after a few days of use, drinking hot or cold water liquids became quite painful.

My sister is a dentist and I asked her about this and the first question she asked was "have you changed toothpastes?" to which I stated I had. The next words out of her mouth were "whitening toothpaste?". I said yes, and she said since these have become more and more popular she has had more and more patients coming in for toothaches and shooting pains. She informs them to go back to their normal toothpaste and if the pain remains after a week, schedule another appointment. Nearly all don't schedule another appointment.

Okay, anecdote, and another:

I've been using whitening toothpaste with no problems at all ever since they came out. I'd have to ask what is different about your teeth to cause a problem? Or are there whitening toothpastes that cause more sensitivity than others, and should only be used for a brief period of time? Or is there, again, an existing problem that is aggravated by whitening toothpastes?

I don't dispute that whitening kits will cause some people increased sensitivity for a bit, and will aggravate any other existing tooth problems. Follow the directions and visit a dentist if there are problems. Heck, getting fillings will cause you to have increased sensitivity for up to 3 weeks.

 

[athon]

Actually whitening kits/toothpastes and tooth sensitivity are quite common.

Before I found this out, I got a free tube of a whitening toothpaste and after a few days of use, drinking hot or cold water liquids became quite painful.

My sister is a dentist and I asked her about this and the first question she asked was "have you changed toothpastes?" to which I stated I had. The next words out of her mouth were "whitening toothpaste?". I said yes, and she said since these have become more and more popular she has had more and more patients coming in for toothaches and shooting pains. She informs them to go back to their normal toothpaste and if the pain remains after a week, schedule another appointment. Nearly all don't schedule another appointment.

Ok, I'll be happy to change my opinion if you have some studies to back it up.

That's not to say you are wrong; that's just saying that an anecdote does little else but make me ask for more information.

Athon

 

[rjh01]

Not sure how white you want your teeth. If you are worried about your teeth being yellow then look at your toothbrush. If it is worn then replace it. That is what I have found.