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According to Dr Toni Surace, surgical dentist and founder of The Great Smile Dentist, Australia’s largest network of independently owned dentists, the growing trend of parents whitening their kids’ teeth is extremely concerning.

“There is so much pressure on everyone because of social media and our image based society to have perfect everything including teeth,” Dr Toni Surace said today.

“When it comes to dental health, the most important thing is teeth and gum health. This must be first and foremost and parents need to understand the impact of whitening on young teeth.

“A child’s adult teeth can often be more yellow than their baby teeth. This is natural and completely normal. As their teeth grow, the enamel on their permanent teeth develop and calcify.

“If a tooth whitening product is used before their adult teeth come in or before their adult teeth are fully formed, they risk breaking down their tooth enamel and damaging their gum tissue.

“Never apply tooth whitening products to your child’s teeth without first consulting with your dentist.”

The AAPD’s (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) official position is that because of a lack of research, whitening strips are not safe for kids and teens under the age of 15. But that doesn’t mean your child has to live with dull-coloured teeth. Instead good hygiene and the right products can help polish those teeth until they gleam – no bleach necessary.

“Every child should go for their first dental check up before the age of one and then every six months after this,” Dr Surace added.

“If discolouration is an issue, this should be discussed with your dentist and off the shelf products or online products should never be used on a child without discussing this with your dentist.

“Not only can the products damage teeth and gums, they may contain substances that could affect the child’s health.”

We asked our mums what they thought about whitening children’s teeth

Mum shares, “My 8-year old daughter’s teeth have a yellow tinge and it bothers her. She’s got about 6 adult teeth now. We brush teeth twice a day but it doesn’t help. I use whitening toothpaste so I’m thinking of letting her use it as well. What do you think mums?”

The consensus from all was a big fat NO! It can ruin your teeth and they certainly would not recommend doing it. They all recommended the mum chat with her dentist or doctor.  Great advice everyone!

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  • I think it would be rather odd for a child to need to have their teeth whitened

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  • No, fluoro white is not natural and you do more harm than good if not essential to the health of your teeth.

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  • No way. Let your children be children and stop trying to conform to social media.

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  • No. WHY? Surely vanity is the only reason. OMG, what are we doing to our kids? What messages are we sending?

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  • No I would never whiten my kids teeth, not even my own as it effects the enamel. Teeth naturally come in different colours, unless there’s a problem diagnosed by a dentist or mouth hygienist, I wouldn’t start whitening treatment

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  • Oh my goodness, a big NO. I would NEVER whiten my kids teeth.

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  • No I’d never whiten my kids teeth. I’d get mine done before I even thought about getting theirs done

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  • Nope! Definitely a big no!

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  • I would steer right clear of this.

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  • Honestly I’ve been slightly tempted, but haven’t. Mine were all premmie, and turns out their enamel never formed properly, so there’s definite yellowing. It’s quire common with premmies. Not a result of poor diet or oral hygiene, confirmed by the dentist.

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  • I think the real question here is why do children’s teeth need to be whitened? Proper nutrition and hygiene should take care of this!

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  • With good nutrition and correct dental hygiene why is it necessary? I personally wouldn’t do it but each to their own

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  • The bid question is why is the child’s teeth going yellow? Is it stains from something she is eating or otherwise putting in her mouth. Is she rinsing her mouth before cleaning. Some foods such as citrus they recommend rinsing your mouth before brushing your teeth at all. Get your Dentist to check that the teeth actually have their natural enamel on them. I know a young girl who has to have 2 extracted. For some reason they never developed enamel on them and are in bad condition.

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  • I take them frequently to dentist and if there any issue I will follow his recommendations

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  • I would get advice from a dentist.


    • Me too! Not something that has ever been suggested for anyone.

    Reply

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