Caring for an Elderly Parent With Special Dental Needs
Want To Whiten Your Teeth? 3 Painful Reasons Why You Should Check With Your Dentist First
Joe Lawrence
If you want to whiten your teeth, you should schedule an appointment with your dentist to determine whether or not you're a good candidate for the procedure. While you can pick up teeth-whitening products at your pharmacy or at the mall, these products are not necessarily safe for everyone. If you have an underlying condition that makes whitening risky, you could very well end up with pain, sensitivity and other issues, which is why it's so important to get the green light from your dentist first. Following are three painful reasons why you should.
Heightened Sensitivity
Some people are extra sensitive to teeth whitening products. Sensitive individuals include kids under the age of 16, pregnant or lactating women, and those with sensitive teeth and allergies. Children have larger tooth nerves, which makes them more sensitive to whitening products and more likely to experience pain after a whitening procedure. Pregnant women are generally more sensitive to all products. And people who have sensitive teeth and/or are allergic to hydrogen peroxide may experience heightened sensitivity and pain after a procedure.
Your dentist will be able to help you determine whether or not you will have a sensitivity issue with whitening products.
Unnecessary Oral Damage
If you have worn enamel, cavities or gum disease, you could cause more damage by getting your teeth whitened. You see, whitening products can enter cracks, crevices and damaged areas of teeth and work their way down to the root, resulting in excruciating pain. Whitening products may also irritate gums and make many symptoms associated with gum disease worse. If your enamel is heavily worn, your teeth won't whiten since products work on the enamel of the tooth.
If you have any of these conditions, you will need to have them fixed before you undergo teeth whitening.
Unexpected Results
Dental work, such as crowns, composites and fillings do not lighten. If you have a great deal of restorations in your mouth, you could very well end up with teeth that are different colors, since your natural teeth will lighten and your restorations will not. To determine whether or not your restorations will affect the success of your whitening procedure, consult with your dentist.
Before you can have your teeth whitened, you must be cleared by a dentist or you could experience pain, sensitivity and other issues after the procedure. For more information, contact Dentistry For the Entire Family or a similar location.
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Caring for an elderly parent tends to be tough enough without the added stress of dealing with dental implants or dentures. But, the prospect is not the end of the world—there are many things you can do to ensure that your parent's dental health is not compromised without having to spend a lot of personal time doing the care yourself. Between working with the right dentist, hiring a service provider for part time work, and giving your parent the tools he or she needs to care for his or her own dental health at home, you'll find that dental health for your loved one isn't so tough or time consuming after all. Hopefully you are able to get the support and information you need right here.