3 Things I Would NEVER Use as a Dentist
There are a lot of popular products on the internet and in stores that, in theory, sound cool or useful, but are actually a horrible idea. Let’s talk about the 3 worst ones.
1. Charcoal Toothpaste
Charcoal toothpaste is advertised as a solution for whitening teeth and removing stains. Unfortunately, the process destroys all of your healthy enamel. The active ingredient is literal charcoal, like charcoal for grilling in the backyard. The charcoal works by scratching your teeth to take away surface stains, but unfortunately, it also scratches away all of your healthy white enamel. Every tooth has an outer white layer called enamel. The thickness of this layer ranges from 1-3 millimeters. This is the layer you are scratching away with charcoal toothpaste, and once it is gone, you CANNOT get it back. Underneath enamel the second layer is called dentin. This layer is much more yellow in color. If you keep using charcoal toothpaste, eventually all of your enamel will be gone and you will actually end up with teeth more yellow than what you started with. Charcoal toothpaste will never touch Dr. Norton’s teeth. If you are interested in whitening your teeth there are much safer and healthier options. Ask Dr. Norton at your next visit.
2. Over-the-Counter Night Guards
Patients who truly clench and grind, have TMD (temporomandibular disease) or TMJ (temporomandibular joint) issues, or have jaw pain and soreness should never by an over-the-counter night guard. These drug store night guards are often soft and squishy, and will make you clench and grind even worse. It is like giving you bubble gum to chew while you sleep, and will exacerbate any jaw conditions you are attempting to fix. Drug store night guards are not adjusted to your bite for even pressure and occlusion. These boil and bite night guards cause more harm than good.
Custom professional night guards are hard and give your teeth a positive stop that your jaw cannot play with while you sleep. Custom night guards are adjusted to your bite so you have even pressure and occlusion throughout the mouth, including a fluid path for grinding if your jaw still moves around. They also put your jaw in an ideal position while you sleep so that you cannot clench down as hard. If you need a night guard, Dr. Norton will always recommend a custom night guard, and tell you to avoid anything over the counter.
3. Lemon Water
Drinking water with lemon sounds healthy, right? Not exactly. Lemon is highly acidic and can cause damage to your teeth. Frequency and duration matter in this scenario. If you are drinking 1-2 glasses of lemon water a week and have good oral hygiene habits, then you will most likely be fine. But if you are sipping on lemon water all day, that is the problem. Your mouth needs to reach a neutral pH, or in some cases slightly basic pH, to stay healthy and prevent cavities. If you sip lemon water all day, or even drink coffee all day (same acid exposure problem), your mouth stays constantly acidic and never gets a break from the bath of acidic fluids breaking down healthy enamel. Your mouth needs time to rebound back to a pH of 7 for optimal health. This is also the same problem with drinking soda all day. Dr. Norton always says no to lemon with her water at restaurants. The only safe beverage to sip on all day is water. Many factors are involved when determining if a patient is high risk for cavities or not. Looking at the big picture for your individual oral health is important, and it is important to note that this habit may be more detrimental for some patients than others.