Dentist in Richmond Virginia Teeth Whitening in Children

Teeth whitening in Children

Many a young teenager has contemplated getting their teeth

whitened, probably in an attempt to ape a famous celebrity or to look cool

amongst their peers.

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So, how should parents go about handling the subject of teeth whitening for their children?



First of all, let’s examine some of the causes of discolored teeth that

commonly affect children.



* A child may suffer a dental injury in an accident or sport



* The tooth could become infected and get discolored



* A child who drinks water with high fluorine levels will likely suffer from

flourosis, a condition where the teeth turn dark yellow or brown.



* A child who is being treated with the antibiotic called tetracycline may

suffer teeth discoloration.



When you consider the key causes of teeth discoloration in children

compared to those in adults, you realize that the causes are not out of poor lifestyle choices, but usually a

medical reason.



However innocent children may be in this regard, teeth whitening is not

generally recommended for children under the age of 16 for a couple of

good reasons:



* Enlarged Nerves-In children under the age of 16, the nerve center of the tooth is enlarged so there is a higher

than average probability of acute teeth sensitivity from any teeth whitening

treatment.



Sensitivity is a normal effect of whitening treatment and is only made

worse when the enlarged nerve endings are so vulnerable to irritation.



* Primary and Permanent Teeth-Most children under 16 have a mixture of both primary teeth and permanent

teeth.



These two sets of teeth have different shades of color because the thickness

of the tooth enamel is different in each set.



Therefore, if a whitening treatment is applied, the child will have two

different shades of teeth.



In addition, as the primary teeth are still being replaced with permanent

teeth, one cannot tell what the overall shade of white the child’s teeth will be

in the future.



For these reasons, it is best to wait till the child is over 16 years and has a full

set of adult, permanent teeth.



Health & Medicine

Dentist in Richmond Virginia Teeth Whitening in Children