Australia Teeth Whitening Articles

The over-the-counter tooth-whitening industry is booming thanks to millions of Americans who want increasingly whiter and brighter smiles obtained by teeth whitening.

But <a href=”http://uab.edu”>UAB</a> prosthodontist Mike McCracken, D.M.D., said a quick trip to the dentist before you whiten is a bright decision.

“People should have their teeth cleaned and examined by a dentist before using any teeth bleaching product. In some cases, darkening teeth can signal more than a cosmetic problem. People can have a variety of diseases they may not be aware of. Big cavities, periodontal disease, some oral cancers and some medications can cause staining or darkening of the teeth.”

<a href=”http://professionalteethwhitening.com.au”>Teeth whitening</a> is most effective for teeth that have become discolored due to yellowing from age, tobacco, red wine, coffee or tea.

Mary Gadbois thought she was being singled out last year when the Missouri Dental Board put her on probation for violating state rules that govern dentists’ advertising.

Rather than simply stew, the Columbia dentist filed “about 30″ complaints with the dental panel about other dentists who advertise in the Yellow Pages.

But Gadbois, of Cherry Hill Dental Associates Inc., hasn’t necessarily gotten the results she wanted.

“I’ve sent in the same dentist like six times in a row,” she said in an interview last week. “Nothing happens.”

Gadbois’ case highlights the rumblings in Missouri’s dental industry in the wake of new advertising restrictions implemented at the end of 2002.

Advertising complaints submitted to the dental board jumped from 19 in fiscal 2004 to 101 last year. Observers say other dentists are often behind the complaints, and the dental board – made up of volunteers appointed by the governor – is trying to figure out whether the rules should be changed again.

“We deal with much more serious issues,” said Rolfe McCoy, a Chillicothe dentist and member of the board. “We’re trying to clean this up so that it isn’t an issue.”

The rules implemented in 2002 require dentists to attach disclaimers to ads in a variety of situations. Specialty areas such as “implant dentistry,” for example, are not recognized by the American Dental Association, and an ad touting those services must say that they require no specific training.

Although implant dentistry – which uses metal anchors to allow the installation of crowns or replacement teeth – might not be officially recognized as a specialty area, some practitioners get additional training in the field. That could explain why a proposed change to the rule, circulated this year, would exempt specialists from using disclaimers if they received extra training.

Critics don’t like that idea. Guy Bates Jr., a Springfield dentist on the <a href=”http://www.modental.org/”>Missouri Dental Association’s</a> board of trustees, said it “made no sense” that a specialist wouldn’t have to include a disclaimer. If it’s misleading for a general dentist to imply a specialty exists when it doesn’t, he said, the same should be true of specialists. He also highlighted the issue of cosmetic dentistry, saying he has lost patients who thought they were switching to a cosmetic specialist.

“There is no ADA-recognized specialty in cosmetics,” he said. “Sadly, the public doesn’t realize that.”

The message might be getting through to dentists, however. A glance at Columbia’s CenturyTel “Opportunity Pages” reveals several dentists who advertised cosmetic dentistry with no disclaimers last year. Those ads carried no such references or included disclaimers in this year’s edition.

In fact, at a hearing earlier this month, Gadbois displayed a copy of a St. Louis phone book with an ad on the cover. She said in an interview that the ad featured the president of the dental board but lacked the proper disclaimer.

Sharlene Rimiller, the board’s executive director, said it generally responds to complaints instead of searching through the phone book for violations. She noted that dentists usually get two strikes before facing disciplinary action.

Gadbois’ case was somewhat different because she was already on probation for an unrelated matter when the board sanctioned her for noncompliant ads.

She got the message. The Columbia dentist told board members at a hearing that she now wraps disclaimers around free toothbrushes she gives to patients.

Are you considering teeth whitening?

For many, the process may not have the results they want, and they may have problems with the whitening process.

With all the colas and coffees and smoking which can stain the teeth, there’s been a big push by the American public to use whiteners to rejuvenate our smiles teeth whitening.

Sandy Zahtila, who is seeking a brighter smile, says, “I’ve been using whitening toothpaste and white strips because some discoloration in my teeth caused by drinking coffee and tea. I do like the results. I noticed that my teeth got whiter by using the products.”

Before you buy an over-the-counter product, however, you want to make sure you don’t have any underlying dental disease.

“You also have a small cavity starting here and bleaching that area may cause some sensitivity in that tooth,” said Sandy’s dentist, Dr. Adina Carrel, while examining her.

“We see a lot of patients who have cavities in their teeth and they think that with the bleaching products they can actually whiten them and that’s not going to be the case. Cavities can appear dark on teeth and there by those cavities need to be addressed and be removed before whitening the teeth,” comments Dr. Carrel.

There can also be bone or gum disease or gum recession.

“A lot of patients brush their teeth too hard thinking that they are going to get the stain off their teeth or they are going to get their teeth whiter. What they are doing is a lot of times damaging the enamel. When you actually apply these products onto the teeth they become a lot more sensitive,” says Dr. Carrel.

Additionally, many with bonds on their teeth think that bleaching can actually whiten them.

“The bonding does not change color at all so at some point you are going to have to get them redone other wise your teeth are going to get whiter but the bonding is going to remain color and will appear much darker,” Dr. Carrel adds.

The same problem holds for crowns.

It’s important to remember that <a href=”http://teethwhitening.net”>tooth whitening</a> is not a substitute for good dental hygiene. Of course, you should be brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing, and seeing the hygienist on a regular basis.

So perhaps a trip to the dentist is warranted before you go out to brighten your smile on your own.

America’s oral health report card is better than a decade ago, according to the <a href=”http://www.cdc.gov”>CDC</a> and <a href=”http://www.nih.gov”>National Institute of Health</a>.

Improvements include:

—Fewer cavities in kids’ and teens’ permanent teeth
—Less tooth loss in older adults
—More use of dental sealants to protect kids’ and teens’ teeth

The findings are based on national health surveys done in 1988-1994 and 1999-2002. The results appear in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Your Guide to Dental Care

‘Good News’

“The good news is that efforts to reduce and prevent cavities and dental disease are paying off. We are seeing an increase in the number of children, teens, and adults who have never had a cavity in their permanent teeth,” says William Maas, DDS, MPH, in a news release. He directs the CDC’s division of oral health.

“It’s also very encouraging to find the dental health of children in lower-income areas improved,” says Maas, crediting school programs that promote tooth brushing and dental sealants.

However, “more effort is needed to improve the oral health of low-income Americans,” says Bruce Philstrom, DDS, in the news release. He is the acting director of the clinical research and health promotion division of the National Institute of Dental and Cranofacial Research.

Dental Health: <a href=”http://professionalteethwhitening.com.au”>Teeth Whitening</a>

Cavities Down, Dental Sealants Up

The report shows a 15 percent drop in cavities in the permanent teeth of kids aged 6-19.

Nearly half of all kids in that age range had had a cavity (49 percent) in the earlier survey, compared with 42 percent in the later study. There was no change in cavity rates for kids’ baby teeth.

The use of dental sealants rose 64 percent for kids aged 6-19 between the two surveys. Dental sealants are used to smooth over pits and fissures in teeth.

In 1999-2002, dental sealants had been used on about 32 percent of U.S. kids, compared with nearly 20 percent in the earlier study.

More Seniors Keeping Their Teeth

A quarter of adults aged 60 or older had lost all of their teeth in 1999-2002. That’s down 20 percent from the earlier study, when 31 percent of adults in that age group had lost all of their teeth.

For all adults aged 20 and older, total tooth loss was most common among current smokers, those living in poverty, and those who hadn’t finished high school.

Many people lose one or more teeth as they age, but not all of their teeth. Younger, wealthier, and more educated adults had more of their teeth. On average, adults aged 20 and older had kept one more tooth in the later survey than in the earlier study.

Total tooth loss was less common among Mexican-American adults than among whites and blacks. However, tooth decay was most common among Mexican-American kids aged 2-11 compared with white and black kids in both surveys.

Room for Improvement

The CDC calls for efforts to improve oral health, especially in disadvantaged groups.

“Racial/ethnic minorities, those with lower income, lower education level, and current smokers across all age groups have larger unmet needs compared with their counterparts,” the report states.

The study also calls for more research on differences in tooth loss and tooth decay between Mexican-Americans and other ethnic groups.

By Miranda Hitti, reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

SOURCES: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Aug. 26, 2005; vol 54. News release, CDC.