Amarachi Okeh
A public health expert, Dr. Toluwani Binutu, has cautioned against the excessive use of whitening toothpaste.
According to the physician, the prolonged use of whitening toothpaste will eventually make teeth colour to turn yellow.
In a video shared on his Instagram page, @tolubinutu, the UK-based health expert explained that whitening toothpaste work by removing stains on the surface of our teeth.
The stains, he said, could be due to anything ranging from our foods to drinks.
He added that chronic coffee drinkers and smokers are also prone to developing teeth stains.
He said, “The reason whitening toothpaste can remove these stains better than regular toothpaste is that whitening toothpaste is more abrasive.
“This means that they have ‘crunchy’ particles that can abrade and remove those stubborn stains on the teeth.”
He, however, noted that whitening toothpaste works like sandpaper and according to him, that is where the problem arises.
“Because of their abrasiveness, prolonged or repeated use of whitening toothpaste will not only remove stains, but it will start to remove the enamel of the teeth (that is the outer, whiter part), leaving behind the inner part of the teeth which is yellower than the outer part.”
He advised that if a person must use a whitening toothpaste, it must be used sparingly and if a person must whiten their teeth, consulting a dentist for a professional job is necessary.
Also, according to a dental health site, getthefloss.com, whitening toothpaste can sometimes make teeth stain worse.
According to the site, while whitening toothpaste may remove surface stains it can be abrasive and damage the enamel (the hard outer layer of the tooth), making it even more prone to staining.
The site also revealed that whitening toothpaste often doesn’t contain any active whitening ingredients, or they may be missing key ingredients required to maintain healthy teeth such as fluoride.
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