DIY Dentistry Is Always Best Avoided!
Thinking of saving money by attempting dental treatments yourself? You could be in for some nasty surprises.
Anyone who uses social media will know that, in addition to a certain sense of community and help from the right people, there is also a lot of false information out there too. Some of this might be done with the best intention while some may be malicious. People often use social media, and the internet in general, to find out how to resolve both medical and dental issues. While the intention might be good, this can be really bad news for those with the problem.
We will always try to encourage our patients to see a dentist and dental hygienist for regular checkups, and, of course, you should always have any treatment carried out professionally. If it has even vaguely crossed your mind to attempt some DIY dental care yourself, including cosmetic treatments, please make sure that you read on.
DIY Teeth whitening
One of the most common DIY treatments to be found online is that of teeth whitening. It probably seems to make sense to some patients of our Canterbury dental practice that whitening your teeth yourself must, at the very least, be safe and even if the effects don’t really work, then no harm done. Unfortunately, this is sometimes a long way from being the case. While there are some examples that won’t damage your teeth but are totally pointless as they won’t improve the colour of your teeth at all, there are also others that are potentially very harmful to them.
These treatments range from using household bleach to natural products such as lemon juice. While bleach is obviously the most dangerous to use, both for your teeth and your general health, even lemon juice is highly acidic and can badly damage the tooth enamel that protects the inner part of the tooth. Baking soda and activated charcoal is also sometimes recommended. While the acidity isn’t a problem as such, these ingredients are quite abrasive to the teeth and can cause significant damage to the enamel if over-used.
The effects of worn and damaged tooth enamel may lead not only to uncomfortable sensitive teeth but also increase the risk of problems like tooth decay and root canal infections.
If you are unhappy with the colour of your teeth, you should contact us at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic to determine the most effective and safe way to do this. Please see our cosmetic dentistry options page for more information.
Extractions
Older patients may remember having a baby tooth or two extracted by their parents using a piece of string which was attached to a door handle and slammed shut. This would ‘yank’ the tooth from its socket. This and similar methods also saw a rise in popularity during Covid when it became more difficult to get a dental appointment. Although this might seem like a procedure that you can, if necessary, do yourself, you really shouldn’t. Not only could this result in significant pain, especially as you won’t have the access to a proper anaesthetic, but could also cause some damage to the bone holding the tooth in place and also the gum. If the whole tooth is not extracted, the remaining part of the tooth could cause infection too. Teeth should only ever be removed by a dentist and this is definitely one that we don’t suggest that you try at home.
Orthodontics
There has been a rise in the popularity of orthodontic treatments that could be processed online over the last few years. There was a lot of concern among dentists that this could cause damage to patient’s teeth as many of these services offered no in-house examinations and relied on photographs and self administered impressions from which the orthodontic trays were made. Any orthodontic work not carried out professionally comes with a number of risks, to say nothing of the fact that no pre-examination would have been carried out to determine any issues such as decay or periodontal disease. There is little point in having straight and even teeth if they are decaying.
It appears now that one of the main providers in the UK has ceased trading and hopefully, people will revert to seeing their dentist to have their teeth straightened professionally in future for a safe and attractive smile.
If you have been considering having any form of cosmetic dentistry, please don’t go online for your advice. Our Canterbury team is here to offer both advice and professional treatments to help you with any issues that you might have. The same applies if you have a loose tooth that you feel needs to come out; please don’t attempt this yourself and instead, give Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic a call so that the tooth can be assessed and if necessary, extracted safely if it can’t be saved. You can get in touch with us by calling us on 01227 463529.