Bleachorexia: the obsession of having white teeth

A new term has been coined for the obsession of having white teeth: bleachorexia.

JUST RIGHT. Overbleached teeth could cause problems such as extreme sensitivity.

Is your quest to have pearly white teeth driving you crazy? Dental experts have a new diagnosis for your obsession. They call it bleachoxeria.

Specialists coined the term bleachorexia, a combination of the term bleach and anorexia, for the addictive obsession to have pearly white teeth to the point that it affects your dental health.

“Normally, teeth bleaching products only removes stains,” explained Alyson Hope Koslow, DDS, a clinical assistant professor in restorative dentistry at Chicago College of Dentistry at University of Illinois.

This means that teeth whitening cannot make the teeth any whiter than your natural tooth color.

She added that if you have bleachorexia, you need to set realistic goals in your teeth-whitening products.

“My teeth could basically turn to mush”

The case of Mia St. John, World Boxing Council Champion in the Super Welterweight Division, led to bleachorexia.

She brushed and bleached her teeth to the extremes to make it whiter.

Luckily, her dentist intervened before things got worse. “He said my teeth could basically turn to mush just because I was destroying the enamel,” she said.

“We encountered a patient that whitened her teeth too much that she had to go to the hospital’s emergency room just to get checked,” Erwin Mejia, DMD, Affinity Dental Clinics’ Dental Director recalled.

Extended problems

Over-bleaching can lead to gum recession and oversensitivity that can lead to gum bleeding, Lauren Rifkin, a cosmetic dentist in Los Angeles said.

He added that in extreme cases, people rub Clorox bleach directly on their teeth.

Options to whiten teeth

Experts claim that patients should have a right to whiten their teeth. They advise that their patients should stick to an ADA approved system or bleach with the consent of their dentist.

You can maintain your white teeth by maintaining a healthy diet and practicing good oral hygiene. Drinking coffee, wine, and berries can stain your teeth.

If teeth whiteners do not work, dentists recommend using porcelain veneers, a shell-like protection placed over your teeth.