I’m trying to get perspective on this particular beauty standard and how I want to approach it. Do people whiten their teeth where you live? Is it seen as expected to do so? Do you live in a city?

I have healthy teeth that have nevertheless seen a lot of tea and coffee. I have generally thought of this as similar to wrinkles, i.e. a natural thing bodies do that I don’t want to pay money to fix since it isn’t broken. I still think this. But I have been feeling lately like there might be more actual social stigma to my teeth being discolored. I am wondering if this is at all real? Has whitening teeth become an expected thing for all adults to do now? I thought I’d ask how other people feel and think about this and what the general norm is in your social circle.

Edit: thanks for the responses everybody.

  • @sartalon
    17•2 months ago

    My dentist disagrees. He recommends moderation, but says it is not harmful, much less dangerous.

    I do it myself, about once a year, and I don’t have any issues at all.

    My dentist said I could do it more often if I felt I needed to, 3-4 times a year, and my enamel would be fine, as long as I followed the directions.

    I tried googling it and found no source that corroborated your statement. (I did find a Mayo Clinic and NYTimes article that both support my dentist’s claim.)

    I’m willing to listen if you can provide an article, but your “objectively wrong” comment seems a little, well, objectively wrong.

    • Tedrow
      7•2 months ago

      I have been told by my dentist that it can permanently damage your tooth enamel. I did a quick search and found an NIH study on enamel softening. It looks at hardness, but that is all. I only read the object and the abstract, but that part didn’t mention enamel thickness. The study mentions that hardness is restored after about a week.

      I would generally advise caution and just take your dentists advice about these things. I will admit I am generally biased about this and it definitely can be harmful if not done correctly.

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4319295/