If you fancy your teeth whiter, seek out professional in-office teeth whitening from an experienced dentist. That’s the song an Irish woman has been singing ever since she had a terrible teeth-whitening experience at an unnamed salon in Monaghan in the Ulster province of Ireland.
Aoife Willis, the woman in question, recently shared details of her nightmarish experience on her Facebook page. In the post, she narrated how she went to the beauty salon to get her teeth whitened. But unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.
I “put my trust in these people to do their job correctly,” Willis says. But the procedure has left her in serious pain and significantly burned her gums. She goes on to say, “I had to go to the dentist today to get them checked and get an X-ray. Thankfully my teeth haven’t been damaged. I am very lucky.”
The pictures that accompanied her Facebook post told the whole story. The gums around her teeth looked dark and even charred in some spots.
“I made a mistake by trusting these people; however, that doesn’t excuse what has happened my mouth,” Willis says. She now urges anyone looking for teeth whitening to consult a dentist to get it done the right way.
Speaking on this, Dr. Kelley Mingus, a prominent Oregon dentist who also specializes in teeth whitening and cosmetic dentistry, says that anytime you use chemicals or products to whiten teeth there should be supervision by a trained professional dentist or expert in the field.
“Although it’s not totally clear what has happened here, it’s likely the whitening agent that was used burned the gums when the protective gel was not placed properly,” Mingus says.
He went on to say that if Willis had visited a dentist, he or she would have used a barrier material to isolate Willis’ teeth from the gums. This is because the professional-level bleaching agents used during teeth whitening are strong and caustic to the gums. Only skilled and experienced practitioners know how best to handle them, Mingus says.
Minor versions of this woman’s experience can happen with over-the-counter whitening products, too, Mingus says. This is why dental professionals recommend that patients seek out a professional when they want professional work done such as teeth whitening.
“So, next time you feel like you want to whiten your teeth, try to get professional in-office teeth whitening from a dentist,” Mingus says. “This is the best guarantee for safe and impressive results.”
