Sensitive Teeth Whitening Options
and how those options EFFECT or CAUSE Sensitive Teeth!

by Perry Louis Fields Founder, Author, Medical Pioneer, Food Scientist and Engineer

Believe it or not, this article may not be written biasely. Just because we make oral care products that do whiten, there are options and consequences when it comes to teeth whitening!  Because sensitive teeth is such a hugely problematic issue these days, knowing your choices could really help your teeth healthier for longer!

RDA values ARE important- teeth whitening toothpastes ARE BAD NEWS for sensitive teeth

What’s really considered safe?  Sometimes we get people who use tooth powder for the first time and because of how different it is, assume that it’s abrasive.  Abrasion does help make teeth white, but for sensitive teeth whitening, it’s TRICKIER than just that.

Baking soda has less than 10 for RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasion), and even though it’s not easily dissolved in water, it’s still a pretty health ingredient to use in oral care. This ingredient is our highest RDA values of our tooth powder composition.  (Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Jun; 78(11): 4057–4061.)  Pastes are generally between 60 – 250+ – 250 being somewhat harsh and is often seen in whitening toothpastes!

“Research shows that 50% of toothpaste abrasion occurs in the first 20 seconds of brushing. So the spot that your toothbrush-toothpaste hits first will receive the most abrasion damage.  Big toothbrushes and lots of highly abrasive toothpaste, such as whitening toothpastes and Crest Pro-Health, have the potential to do an incredible amount of damage. The Crest Pro-health RDA value is 189!” – Robert Shelton, DDS

Even toothpastes designed for sensitive teeth are around 100 on the scale, which is NOT considered LOW RDA.

What about charcoal for sensitive teeth whitening?

Charcoal is very trendy and many of the products jobbed on Amazon and places like this, are just charcoal in a jar OR close to it.  Don’t brush with just charcoal unless you do so sparingly.   Hardly any studies are available.  RDA depends on the composition of the final product.   Some reviews about products that are mostly charcoal talk about how it makes teeth sensitive, which is probably correct.

 We personally would NOT use it by itself, but our Carbon Bright product (the only version of our tooth powder we make with charcoal) was created in a response to this.  It’s only a certain 15% charcoal with other ingredients that are healthy for enamel and gums that also have effective “scrubbing” properties.

If your teeth are SENSITIVE; healing teeth is all about your saliva!

Enamel that is worn and/or demineralized, can get A LOT of help with your saliva!   If you are reading this and are looking to whiten your teeth, but suffer from sensitive teeth, check our how to remineralize your teeth here.

Should you really whiten your teeth professionally or with over the counter “whitening products?”

How important is it for you to live PAIN FREE in your teeth? 

Those are the question you should be asking if you are considering getting actual whitening treatments.  Because the RDA issue with whitening treatments, can be exponential.

Knowing that you age as well as your teeth age, it may not be worth it. Teeth that are stain free, are generally Off-White, CREME, Vanilla-Y.

The two main treatments are:

  1. Whitening with Peroxides– Usually seen in syringes and teeth whitening “pens” destroy the dentin (top layer of enamel), dulling it or removing it. (Compend Contin Educ Dent. 1998 Aug;19(8):783-6, 788, 790, passim; quiz 796.)
  2. UV Lights- Tooth Sensitivity Increases (Niger Med J. 2014 Sep-Oct; 55(5): 363–368.)

Of course, if you dig further, you can read about lots of caries research, all saying THE SAME THING. The only thing to slightly help is treatments done with some sort of calcium after treatments to dull sensitives.

Why does your dentist offer it?  People demand it.

SENSITIVE TEETH WHITENING- THE TAKE AWAY

Super white teeth aren’t necessarily HEALTHY teeth.  Use our tooth powder which can be more effective if the first 20 seconds of using our powder, you’re brushing your front teeth. Many people are quite happy with the teeth whitening effects of it. If you’re still wanting to use a teeth whitening treatment, just know, you may be trying to fix your sensitives later and sometimes they can’t be fixed easily, depending on the severity.
While we do not use potassium nitrate or make claims about reducing sensitivity, our tooth powder has helped people get off products like SENSODYNE and we are ranked as one of the best “sensitive teeth” products on Amazon.  We believe it’s the approach to NO RINSE and rekindling healthy, mineral-rich saliva that is necessary for a healthy mouth.