Can Whitening Toothpastes Discolor Teeth?
Submitted by Beauty Brains Blog
Jnnfri asks…Do I have to be worried about the dyes in toothpastes attributing to tooth discoloration?
The Right Brain’s toothless grin:
Relax, Jnn, toothpastes are not the enemy of white teeth. There are many things that are worse! So before we talk about toothpaste dyes, lets talk about what really causes dark stains.
Tooth terrors
Animated Teeth has a nice discussion about the real culprits that cause darkened teeth: years of exposure to chromogenic agents such as tea, coffee, colas, tobacco products. Food residues can also cause staining and some medicines also contribute to the problem. If you want even more information to chew on you can check out this highly detailed article from Dr. Ross Kerr, DDS that expands further on the causes of tooth discoloration by explaining tooth structure and the chemistry of the staining materials.
So what about toothpastes?
We did a quick survey of toothpaste dyes and found that Blue 1, Red 30 and Yellow 5 are commonly used in products like Crest, Colgate, Arm and Hammer and Mentadent. We couldn’t find any references indicating that these dyes change the color of the teeth. That’s not surprising since these dyes are 1) very water soluble (so they rinse away easily); 2) are used at very low levels in toothpastes, and 3) are only in contact with your teeth for a very short period of time before they are rinsed away. We also confirmed that the American Dental Association allows the use of these dyes in whitening toothpastes.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
There doesn’t appear to be cause for concern about staining your teeth with toothpaste. But if you’re still skeptical, feel free to use a whitening toothpaste that doesn’t contain any dyes. There are plenty of those on the market as well (like Ultra Brite Advanced Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste and Sensodyne Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth, Extra Whitening.)
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