No Whitening Thank You...

We all want to look good, right? Well somehow, we have been convinced that the best way to look good is with a beautiful smile. Correction: a bright WHITE beautiful smile. We must use whitening gums, strip, mints and of course toothpastes to get that stellar white smile that we all desire. This is all ironic on a number of levels.

First, why aren't our teeth white in the first place? Could it be all the soda, coffee, tea, candy and snacks that are sold and marketed to us ad nauseam? Judging by the bottom lines of the companies that purvey these products, I'd guess that has something to do with it. There products all stain the enamel on the exterior of our teeth, leaving the objectionable shades behind.

The second irony is that the products that whiten our teeth are actually weakening them. The way most work is to wear the outer layer (the stained layer from above) of the enamel off to expose the clean layer underneath. Akin to polishing a dull stone to expose the lovely colorations concealed below. However, unlike the stone, our teeth are smaller and thinner and have a finite layer of enamel, once it's wore off, it's gone making our teeth even more susceptible.

The final issue is what made me want to rant on this topic in the first place, and that's the presence of these whitening products in toothpaste. Toothpaste is by its very nature something we use to protect our teeth, so the incorporation of something designed to essentially wear down our teeth is ludicrous. As I shopped in the supermarket today for a new tube of toothpaste, I searched and searched for a paste that not only did not include whitening, but did include products to rebuild enamel. The real joke is that some of these toothpastes claim to do both. That's like simultaneously applying paint and thinner at the same time and I don't see how that could work.

In the end, I found my unicorn, Sensodyne ProNamel Daily Protection (NO Whitening!) which I will happily use to protect my teeth and rebuild my enamel. I guess I'll just have to live with not being one of the beautiful people.