I went to a teeth whitening shop which opened in our city mall. The sales lady assured me only certified teeth whitening specialists were allowed to work on my teeth. I liked their price and she showed me all their safety measures so it sounded like a good alternative to my dentist. I asked how they could do the procedure so much cheaper than my dentist and she said it was an issue of lower overhead. They only do this procedure so they won’t have to have a ton of staff or expensive machines. I think I made a huge mistake. My gums feel like they’re being stabbed by a hundred mini daggers and my teeth look all blotchy, especially where I have a filling. Are my teeth destroyed? With the pain to my gums, will I lose my teeth?

Dolly M.

Dear Dolly,

It’s more likely the pain to your gums is a result of the whitening agent or the light they used coming in contact with your gums. That won’t make your teeth fall out, but it will hurt like the dickens. Saltwater rinses may give you some relief. If they were as trained as they claimed to be, they would have taken precautions to protect your gums.

That brings me to their “certification”. There is no such thing as a certified teeth whitening specialist through the American Dental Association. That’s likely just a term they use for their company when they “train” their employees. However, this training is showing some real deficits.

We’ve already discussed how your gums should have been protected during the teeth whitening procedure. But, they should have discussed your fillings with you before moving forward with your treatment. Dental work, such as fillings or crowns, do not whiten. Only natural tooth structure is affected by the whitening agent. Once a couple of weeks have passed and the color has had a chance to settle, you can have white fillings re-done to match the new, whiter color of your teeth.

If you’re still in pain, even with the salt-water rinses, it’s perfectly acceptable for you to take a pain reliever, such as ibuprofen.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Ryan Perry.