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Beauty & Fashion:
Shining a light on Sunscreen
by Maryann McKinley
gjcvbcccvbncbcbcbcbcHumans have been fretting about their looks since the first caveman caught his rexgxfgflection while sitting by his local pond. The ancient Egyptians wore heavy eyeliner and blush, and colored their hair with the dyes from plants. Upper class Roman women used concoctions of every variety to improve their appearance. And the Greeks, thousands of years before the current craze for brighter smiles, used bleaching compounds to whiten their teeth.
The Greeks had it easy, with only their nearest and dearest to make them feel inadequate. We have television, magazines, and movie screens - everywhere you look, it seems there are beautiful people with impossibly beautiful smiles reminding you that your own pearly whites might not be so dazzling. The glitterati often are not even sporting their original teeth; a lot of those gorgeous smiles are actually veneers, which are virtually impossible to live up to. We can’t all be Hollywood stars, but doing something to brighten up your visage has never been so easy, or so popular.
Coffee, tea, wine, cigarettes, medications, and just plain time all make our smiles duller. Tooth enamel is not perfectly smooth, so stains can build up over time in the microscopic surface irregularities and we wind up with teeth. As a result, teeth whitening is the number one cosmetic procedure requested at dental offices, and uncounted millions more use the latest over-the-counter remedies at home, with Americans spending almost a billion and a half dollars every year chasing a brilliant smile. You can choose from gels that you paint on, stick-on strips, daily brightening toothpastes, and even chewing gum. The possibilities are endless.
While a gleaming smile is nice to have, teeth whitening can become an addiction; a nice result leaves you wanting more. But bleaching solutions are based on peroxide, which creates a chemical reaction that removes stains from tooth enamel with a sort of bubbling action. Over the counter mixtures have about a 4 percent peroxide solution and brighten 2- 3 shades. At-home gels offered by dentists are in the 10 to 15 percent range, and can lighten by 8 – 10 shades. In the dentist’s office, compounds that are activated by special lamps take about an hour and a half and can lift your teeth to blindingly bright levels, 12 to 14 shades whiter. It’s like Clorox for your mouth.
Modern teeth whitening products are pretty safe if you use them correctly, with home products lightening gradually with repeated applications over a week or two, and in-office procedures working their magic in an hour or so. You can even go to your favorite spa, or to a teeth-whitening party. Star-quality smiles can be had. But you have to be careful, because there can be side effects that range from short-term annoying to permanent and not reversible. The American Dental Association reports that around half of people who bleach their teeth experience sensitivity from the treatment. Sensitivity, of course, is a relative term, meaning anything from a mild tingly sensation to outright pain. And if you overdo it, long-term damage can result. Vanity can hurt.
I’d love to pretend I’m above all that, but I’ll confess, my bathroom cabinet harbors Crest WhiteStrips. The only problem is timing. You have to dedicate half an hour (even longer if you have the official dentist’s gel), and somehow, as soon as I affix that sticky tape, a psychic message goes out to the world, and my cell phone rings with a call I can’t avoid taking. I’ve learned that making plans while whitening is akin to trying to have a conversation through Novacaine – I wind up waiting for friends in Dewitt, while they’re impatiently tapping their foot wondering why I’m not downtown. And falling asleep with bleaching gel is just dumb, sometimes resulting in red, sensitive gums that require a soup-only diet for a day or two. Trust me, I can testify. So I’m a little behind on my schedule, as my mirror constantly reminds me. But I’ll start again, probably right after I read the next issue of Cosmo.
Overuse of bleaching products is common, especially with at-home treatments. How much is too much? Blindingly white teeth aren’t really normal, and look sort of unnatural. Heck, quite often, they’re not even real. We’ve all seen people with teeth that outshine the Vegas strip, and it’s a little odd. According to experts, the best course is to try to match the whites of your eyes. Who wants their mouth to look like a piece of porcelain, anyway? Or worse. Overbleaching can also result in a thin, translucent effect that leaves your teeth looking permanently blue or grey, and it doesn’t go away. If you’re doing it at home, it’s a good idea to read the directions, then actually follow them. Or even better, ask your dentist before you start on a whitening program. Your smile will be beautiful, and your buffed-up teeth will thank you!
Questions? Comments? Email me at mcmar01@yahoo.com. And have a great month!
