My enamel is worn will teeth whitening damage my enamel more?

Q. I am considering teeth whitening, however the enamel on my incisor teeth is worn somewhat-particularly at the edges. Will teeth whitening cause further damage to the enamel in that area and make it more noticeable? Also in the future, will it speed up erosion of enamel in the worn areas?

A. Dear H,

When you have your teeth bleached it is for a relatively short period of time. The enamel does lose a small amount of calcium from the surface but this is replaced by the calcium in your saliva in the following weeks after you stop bleaching. This is provided the correct bleaching solutions are used. It is extremely important that you have your teeth bleached by a dentist and not a beautician as incorrect solutions have been used in the past by people who are not correctly trained. ( In fact it is illegal for any one who is not a dentist to carry out any treatments involving teeth.)

Your worn enamel may be a problem as this is the main part of the tooth that is bleached and also it protects the underlying sensitive dentine. If a large amount of enamel is missing your teeth may not whiten sufficiently and they may become very sensitive to temperature changes. Your dentist will be able to advise you whether bleaching really is for you.

Dr Julian Caplan BDS
Aviva Cosmetic Dentistry
Director on the board of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

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This post was published on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 2:32 pmand is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Teeth Whitening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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