Talk:Tooth whitening

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Aso1995.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 11:30, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Kugel?

"A recent study by Kugel et al, has shown that as much as 4 shades of lightness can be lost over 30 days with light-activated/office bleaching."

1. Who is Kugel? A reference is needed
2. Is there a technical definition for a "shade of lightness"?

-- Kaszeta 21:06, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

I agree that this part is unclear. Is it saying the rebound makes the teeth darker by four shades beyond the original lightness or just darker than the post-bleaching level?

While I have a guess as to its meaning, a formal definition of "Fridge-door teeth" would also be nice for those not "in the profession". A Google search returns this article as the first result, and no other relevant results are found.

201.241.121.148 17:32, 22 September 2007 (UTC)There is a technical definition of shade of teeth color. Dentists standardly use it to determine which color they should use for a particular filling when using composite (white) as opposed to amalgam (metallic) materials to do their work. For example, your teeth could be B1 or A2, depending on various factors. In this article they talk about it:

"Title:Enhanced tooth shade guide Document Type and Number:United States Patent 7118374 / Link to this page:http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7118374.html"

The guardian--C. Booker

while not entirely incorrect, the bombastic and inflamitory remarks of the source whose "teeth looking as though life itself had wiped its arse" and he "contemplated running outside and tossing my head under a bus" is not acceptable. Find a credible source-not someone who will say anything for attention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.219.235.253 (talk) 17:13, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

While it doesn't qualify as a scientific study, it may worth to leave the link. Actually all research on side effects relies on patient stories. --Zslevi (talk) 17:04, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

... No actually some research on side effects is actually performed during clinical trials in a somewhat rigorous (or so we hope) manner.

18.111.40.19 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 08:20, 21 August 2009 (UTC).

Pictures Please

Like many other dental articles we need to add some photos here - before and after type things. If anyone has access to these images then please post them otherwise I will try and find a link to some.

I agree, pictures would be useful in identifying the differential diagnosis of dental staining. Hypoplastic enamel is similar to a rare disease called amelogenesis imperfecta. This could cause confusion for readers. Thivan-ebp (talk) 05:47, 13 May 2019 (UTC) thivan-ebp

Thinning of enamel

I ran across a statement somewhere else (sorry, I don't recall where :-() that the yellowing of teeth with age was due at least in part to the thinning of the enamel, so that the yellower inner layers of the tooth could show through. I don't see anything in this article (or the other articles on similar topics) that refers to this theory, so maybe it's an urban legend. At any rate, could someone who knows the truth about this idea add something on the page about it? Thanks!

Mcswell 14:14, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

I believe the article reflects these changes better now, although I think you have it the other way around- while enamel deteriorates over time, the dentin inside your teeth becomes more yellow as you age.--HurstMatt (talk) 22:33, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

The natural production of secondary dentine also gradually darkens teeth with age. Thivan-ebp (talk) 05:46, 13 May 2019 (UTC)thivan-ebp

American Culture

The comment about tooth whitening being due to the spread of American culture is subjective, as are comments about white teeth being associated with youth. Unusual Cheese 15:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

You are technically correct. However, the XO/XB bleaching shades in the vita 3D shade guide were AFAIK created for the US market - they are shades that correlated to overbleached (unnaturally high value) teeth. Also, teeth do yellow with age (this is not subjective), so it is possible that white teeth be associated with youth.Dr-G - Illigetimi non carborundum est. 19:07, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Oil pulling for tooth whitening--delete?

Oil pulling should not be mentioned in this article, given the dispute within the oil pulling article's talk page (over neutrality and reliability of sources). The claim of tooth whitening through oil pulling is not substantiated in either article. I found the reference to oil pulling in the tooth bleaching article to be misleading--I was looking for reliable information on tooth whitening, not a 'treatment' that claims to ameliorate AIDS and cure leukemia along with a host of unrelated ailments (see first 'reference' in oil pulling article, "oilpulling.com"). 69.134.79.254 04:40, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Deleted. - Dozenist talk 05:12, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Bold merge.

I'm going to be bold and merge this page into tooth whitening. WLU (talk) 12:19, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Oops, no I'm not, I'm merging tooth whitener into this page. WLU (talk) 12:21, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

While many popular tooth whitening products involve teeth bleaching treatments, many teeth whitening techniques are not related to bleaching (I'm thinking of baking soda, whitening toothpaste, and even cosmetic dentistry techniques). In fact the history of tooth whitening predates the use of bleach, a large omission from the entry as long as it remains merged. Is it possible to unmerge these entries? --HurstMatt (talk) 22:22, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

Merge with Whitening strips

The Whitening strips article does not present sufficient information to stand on its own. I recommend that it be merged here. Neelix (talk) 17:35, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

I'll second that! first time i've ever seen a wiki with just One Sentence! --Alex at kms (talk) 06:13, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

The whitening strips article is pitifully small, and since it IS a way to bleach, or whiten teeth, it would be better to merge them DarkXWeatherX (talk) 00:17, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

The whitening strips article, standing at all of two sentences, would benefit from being merged into Tooth Bleaching, with a possible redirect from "Whitening strips" to "Tooth bleaching". I think it should be done; clearly the whitening strips article isn't growing all that fast since this was proposed over a year ago. :] Alex60466176 (talk) 19:41, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Infobox image caption

The caption contains capitalized words and something about a brush. It is confusing. I would make the edit but I am not familiar with the product. Please, could somebody fix it. Thank yooooooooo.--Anna Frodesiak (talk) 11:23, 18 August 2009 (UTC) I think the suggestion to merge whitening strips into this section is good, and not only the strips but other things like laser treatment and so many other things too, so that, researcher will have all related data about teeth whitening under one umbrella! Thanks! Mudassir —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.186.69.210 (talk) 06:34, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Discovered by a Mom

i have seen a recurrent internet 'advert' claiming to offer information on a simple trick for teeth whiteing supposedly discovered by a mom, and only costing 5USD. Because i avoid ad-clicking and Wikipedia is my main source of info, i am left without a bright smile to enlighten me (or other wikipedians) ;) 79.76.215.56 (talk) 02:23, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Seconded -- this ad-plague is worthy of a mention. 86.25.179.164 (talk) 00:18, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

I am wondering why it mentions that it was discovered by 'a mom' It's like saying that the telephone was "invented by a dad". DavidFarmbrough (talk) 07:34, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

In the UK these adds are ruining the teeth whitening market for both dentists and established online oral hygiene stores. The Daily Mail ran a series of reports on these 'scams' people complaining that once they had signed up for their free trial their credit cards were billed monthly! Buyers beware. There are many suppliers in America of good teeth whitening kits & Crest Whitestrips.Scmdouglas (talk) 23:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Teeth Whitening FAQ

Would it be appropriate to add a link to a specific brand of teeth whitening's FAQ?

Sometimes brands are mentioned in other categories, vehicles for example, and Zoom has become a market leader in bleaching/whitening.

I found a good FAQ on on Zoom at and Auckland dentist site[1]

Hochelaga Bryant —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.238.173.205 (talk) 19:36, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

There are lots of good information and resource sites, try http://crestwhitestrips.co.ukScmdouglas (talk) 23:53, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Those that are interested in home teeth whitening but have doubts can check out these helpful articles http://www.teethwhiteningstrips.co.uk/teeth-whitening-info/useful-articles.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.104.248.37 (talk) 06:26, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Tooth care free guide available at http://crestwhitening.co.uk/resource-centre/toothcare/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.140.161.22 (talk) 18:43, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

Reads like an advertisement?

Many parts of this article (and other dental articles) read like an advertisement, explicitly using words like "you" and "your". Is this acceptable or should it be edited? Primary Antagonist (talk) 01:51, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Aforementioned?

The text "aforementioned damaging effect" (last sentence under "Natural Methods") has no prior reference in the article. There is no other sodium bicarbonate mention in the article that the browser can find except in this paragraph. kc (talk) 10:32, 7 June 2012 (UTC)

Merger proposal

It is proposed that the content of Laser teeth whitening be merged into this article. Alexbrn ^{talk|contribs|COI} 17:37, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

support : Agreed. This could be the main title, and the other perhaps the subtitle, doesn't make sense for them to be standing alone. Danger^Mouse (talk) 13:44, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

support : Agreed. No reason for two articles. Laser is subset of whitening. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.26.135.244 (talk) 02:11, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

Scope

This article contains a mixture of bleaching techniques (i.e. using bleach) and other techniques not involving bleach. Therefore the title "tooth whitening" is more appropriate. Matthew Ferguson (talk) 08:44, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Dentin/ dentine?

Can someone clarify for me why the article has "dentine" in some copy and "dentin" in others. The dictionary shows only "dentine", but no other option. Wondering if it's dentin for adjective, but the dictionary doesn't say. Thanks. Manytexts (talk) 14:05, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

@Manytexts: The article dentin says "dentin" is the American spelling and "dentine" is the British spelling. Since this article appears to use American spelling elsewhere, WP:ENGVAR suggests that it should use the "dentin" spelling throughout for consistency. Deli nk (talk) 14:11, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

@Deli nk: Ah, thanks. There's quite a bit of English spelling I realise now, e.g. colour/colouration. Which spelling to follow? Happy to make any changes.Manytexts (talk) 22:14, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

You're right, there is an existing mix of both American and English spellings. I guess I didn't look closely enough. The policy says in situations such as this to "use the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety". It's not obvious to me which revision that would be though. Deli nk (talk) 23:01, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm happy to toss a coin and conform the copy to one version if you're happy with that too. Manytexts (talk) 08:17, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

That's perfectly fine with me (but eventually someone will complain that you picked the wrong one ). Deli nk (talk) 12:44, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Whitening Toothpaste section

This section needs review. I was reading it for my own purposes, and there are issued with this past: "Whitening toothpastes are different to regular toothpastes in a way that they contain a higher content of abrasives and detergents to fight off tougher stains. Most contain low concentrations of carbamide/hydrogen peroxide – this lightens the colour of teeth. These whitening toothpastes make teeth one to two shades lighter.[25] Toothpastes (dentifrices) which are advertised as "whitening" rarely contain carbamide peroxide, hydrogen peroxide or any other bleaching agent.[26] Rather, they are abrasive (usually containing alumina, dicalcium phosphate dehydrate, calcium carbonate or silica), intended to remove surface stains from the tooth surface."

The section also seems confusing. I believe what is meant, is that whitening toothpastes, and toothpastes that advertise as whitening are two totally different things... but this isn't made clear, and it took a number of sweeps of reading for me to realise that this was what is likely meant, rather than just reading as a self-contradicting passage. Somebody may clear it up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.80.185.169 (talk) 13:33, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Teeth whitening suitable for all stains?

Is it worth mentioning which extrinsic and intrinsic stains would be suitable for teeth whitening? Reading the introduction: "Tooth whitening can be achieved by either changing the intrinsic colour or by removing and controlling the formation of extrinsic stains" would lead a reader to believe teeth whitening can remove all types of stains. Which extrinsic and intrinsic stains are permanent and cannot be removed with teeth whitening? Thivan-ebp (talk) 05:49, 13 May 2019 (UTC)

Yes, as chemical tooth whitening only affects the intrinsic staining by oxidising the 'stain' molecules. It is important to note that undertaking procedures such as prophylaxis and Debridement also lead to stain removal, but of the extrinsic type. This could be mentioned in a different area on the page. Another area to discuss would be the causes of each staining type. Intrinsic being linked to dentine and Extrinsic being linked to factors such as food and beverages like wine and Cola. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BOHStudentLatrobe (talk • contribs) 09:32, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: ENGL A120 Critical Thinking

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 August 2023 and 15 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cpdus0923 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Cpdus0923 (talk) 07:44, 23 October 2023 (UTC)