The Damage and Dangers of #DIYDental

            It sounds horrifying, doesn’t it—prying your braces off with a spoon? Scraping your teeth down with a nail file? These and many more equally unsavory trends are being practiced all the time. Often, it’s done by those who lack the money, means, or time to fit traditional dentistry into their schedule. Today, we’ll consider the damages and dangers of a few of the top trends of at-home dentistry. We’ll see why ultimately, it’s best to just let the dentists be dentists.

The Wild Stories

            Right now, the Internet is teeming with stories that would make you cringe and certainly make dentists shudder. When regular people take the professional work of dentistry into their own hands, sometimes the result is benign, but more often, it ends up a mess. Here are just a handful of trends circulating in the #DIYDental atmosphere that would likely to displease the dentist.

Tooth Filing with Nail Files

This painful trend emerges out of a desire for jagged, uneven teeth to line up evenly like the keys of a piano. Some who lack the money or means to have their teeth professionally contoured have decided that they’ll do it themselves—with the sandpapery little board you file your nails with.

If you’re inwardly cringing at the thought of the sound that would make scraping across your teeth, just wait. There’s more to cringe at. If you file your fingernails today, explains one dentist in response to this trend, they’ll grow back tomorrow. But that’s not the case with the layers of your teeth (known as enamel and dentin) that you are filing away in hopes of achieving perfectly even rows. Once your enamel is gone, it’s gone for good. You’ve essentially shortened the lifespan of your tooth, not to mention leaving a likely bloody and painful mess behind. Your teeth will be more sensitive now that their protective layers are gone. You may have hoped to avoid the costs of professional tooth contouring. But chances are, you might have to spend $1,200 to $1,500 getting a crown or veneer to fix the damage.

The Rubber Band Method

What is the rubber band method, you might ask? Method to do what? Good question. Many young people who are on TikTok are following the lead of peers and influencers they see on the app, who are tying hair ties or rubber bands around teeth with space between them to close the gap. For those who can’t afford braces and are self-conscious of the gaps, it may seem like a cheap and easy solution to the problem. Dentists, however, warn adamantly against it.

The fact is, your teeth will move if you try the rubber band method. But as one Detroit dentist points out, when your teeth move too fast, that can cause damage. Furthermore, they’ll just move right back once you stop using the rubber bands. The method even puts users at risk for lost teeth by potentially squeezing the teeth right out of the gums as they shift! All around, the rubber band method is a temporary solution at best, and will likely only land you with damaged teeth.

DIY Veneers

If you’re not familiar with what a veneer is, it’s basically a custom-made, non-removable shell that dentists apply to a patient’s teeth to improve their appearance in some way. The cost might seem a bit daunting up front, ranging between $925 and $2,500 per tooth, according to the ADA. In contrast, a DIY veneer kit could be purchased for a mere $29. The drastic price difference and do-it-yourself spirit have led many to attempt their own veneers at home. But like most other trends within #DIYDental, that choice typically comes with less-than-glowing results.

One dentistry shares the story of a Texas woman who used an at-home veneer kit: the materials stuck to her teeth so badly that she had to have her dentist remove it! Not only that, but she lost two teeth in the process, and had to have bits of others drilled down. The end was much worse than what she’d started with.

Those who choose to apply their own veneers at home through direct-to-consumer kits simply lack the dental expertise for such a job, and are likely to end up with ill-fitting veneers that could cause pain, discomfort, infection, or even serious damage.

Removing Your Own Braces

Spoons are for eating. Pliers are for construction and household projects. Wire cutters are for cutting normal wires … or so you thought. The ever-creative community of would-be home dentists have taken household items and (believe it or not) attempted to remove their braces with them.   

Dentists are often found on TikTok responding to the horrifying #DIYDental videos teenagers are posting. In one such response, dentist Grant Collins explained three undeniable reasons why taking one’s braces off with a spoon is a terrible idea.

1. You need to remove the residual glue from your teeth with a dental drill.
2. Your teeth will shift immediately afterward, which means that you need a retainer for a period of time post-removal.
3. If your teeth shift because you don’t immediately put a retainer in, you will need to start the entire process over again.

As one dentistry effectively put it, “We cannot emphasize enough: your orthodontist should be the one to complete the braces removal. They have all the tools needed to complete the process and can easily remove the adhesive without any damage. Your enamel is very fragile, but they know how to maintain it.” Though it might seem longer and more expensive, it’s worth it in the long run.

Whitening Teeth with Bleach

“Remember, you are paying for the brand, not the product. Stop wasting your money.” This was the message that one TikTok user preached to her followers as she applied hydrogen peroxide (a bleaching agent) to her teeth.

Yet while this user urged her millions of viewers to skip the more expensive name brand and professional options, she was drawing them into a practice that (if followed) would lead to sensitive, suffering, and even ruined teeth. Believe it or not, bleach is not meant for your teeth. Attempts to whiten teeth with bleach will put you at risk for expensive root canals, and may even cost you a tooth.

Keep in mind—these are only five of dozens of DIY dentistry ideas that are swirling around social media! There are many other trends that are causing dentists distress, some (such as DIY braces) so alarming that official warnings have even been issued against them.

The True Cost

            In the end, the reality is that all of these are temporary solutions at best, and pose the threat of real damage to your mouth. Often, consumers pick the DIY route because of the high prices of having things done professionally. Unfortunately, in many cases, this only backfires. The dental damage resulting from failed or mangled at-home procedures can cost much more to fix than it would have cost to just fix the original problem.

The problem is so dire that the American Dental Association has even spoken up to issue an official warning about it. They say they, “…[discourage] the use of direct to consumer dental products, including mouth guards, snoring appliances, teeth whitening trays and bleaching products, partial dentures, veneers and aligners.”

If you need dental work done, please—let the dentists be dentists. Call our office today to schedule your next appointment or speak with us about your options.