I periodically see this question on Yahoo Answers where someone asks if it is safe to use Clorox Bleach for teeth whitening at home. Usually, there are people who respond in horror to the idea. Though I understand why they have such a visceral reaction, it may help them to know that although not used for teeth whitening (with good reason), many dentists will use bleach in other procedures. For instance, a technique taught in dental school is to use bleach in a root canal treatment, to clean out all the debris in a cleaned out root and to disinfect the tooth.
Why it is not recommended for teeth whitening is because it is a strong base, such as lye. It will burn living tissue. So, unless you have a way to keep it on your teeth for 15 minutes and away from your gums and mouth tissue that whole time, it’s not a good solution for teeth whitening.
If you’re looking to improve your smile, there are a few ways to go about it. All of them are more safely done with a trained cosmetic dentist.
A quick method that gives you great bang for your buck is the get your teeth professionally whitened. You can do it a little at a time with take-home trays or all at once with Zoom Whitening.
If there are other things you’d like to change about the look of your teeth, you’ll find porcelain veneers can give you a complete smile makeover. In fact, it is the go-to procedure for celebrities who want that Hollywood Smile.
Do You Need a Special Dentist to Improve Your Smile
With teeth whitening, no special training is necessary. Any family dentist should be able to do the procedure. It’s pretty hard to mess up. However, Zoom Whitening does require special equipment. So, you’d need a dentist who invested in that.
Porcelain veneers are a totally different story. If you want to go all out and get a smile makeover, you will need a dentist who invested in the training necessary to do beautiful smile makeovers— a procedure which unfortunately isn’t taught in dental school.
Cosmetic dentistry isn’t a recognized specialty so any general dentist can call themselves a cosmetic dentist. Your best way to ensure a beautiful result is to go to an AACD accredited dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country.
This blog is brought to you by Grosse Pointe Woods Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Theodore Hadgis.