TikTok has become a source of entertainment, news, cute animal videos, cooking tutorials, and oddball trends. They’re great to watch but not always so great to emulate. Some trends can be downright dangerous to oral health, including some crazy things people do to their teeth. A few can even be life-threatening, which is why it’s a terrible idea to follow such trends.
At Gairhan Dental Care, we’ve seen some of these wild trends on TikTok, and we want to be sure you avoid them at all costs. We want our patients in the Jonesboro, AR, area to be aware of these trends so they know to avoid them. Let us take care of any dental issues or discuss any ideas you have for cosmetic dentistry. A chat with us can save you a lot of pain in the mouth and the wallet later!
Let’s look at some of the trends we’ve spotted that are major no-nos for your oral health.
Gluing ‘Jewels’ to Your Teeth
We’ve seen a trend of people attaching jewels, fake fangs, and other things to their teeth with hot glue or super-bonding glue such as SuperGlue or Gorilla Glue. We’ll say it outright — this is a terrible idea!
The hot glue can scar your teeth and cause permanent damage, from discoloration to damage that leads to tooth rot and even tooth loss. Hot glue doesn’t just damage your teeth. It can also burn your lips, cheeks, tongue, or gums. Those burns can leave scars or, worse, can get infected. This can cause serious issues with eating.
You may think those super-bonding glues would be better, but they can be as bad or worse. The glue can cause permanent damage to your teeth. It also can bond the soft tissue in your mouth, either to your teeth or to other soft tissue, such as your lips or tongue. This would require a trip to the emergency room to separate the soft tissue, which will likely be a very painful process. There’s one other thing to remember with these glues — they are highly toxic. You can get very ill from ingesting them.
Bottom line — just don’t do it!
Filing Down Or Changing the Shape of Your Teeth
This trend predates TikTok, but it seems to be regaining popularity because of TikTok. Some people believe that they can file down their teeth to give them a “cool” new shape. They reshape them to look like vampire teeth, werewolf fangs, or whatever crazy shape they can imagine.
Filing or reshaping your teeth can cause all kinds of problems. The most obvious is that it causes permanent damage to your teeth. Once those teeth are “reshaped,” they can’t be returned to normal without intervention from a professional dentist. Filing your teeth can also be incredibly painful. Once you wear away the enamel — the hard, protective shell on the outside of your teeth — you hit the pulp of the tooth. This is where the nerves and blood vessels reside, and hitting that pulp will cause pain. It will also damage and even kill the tooth. Eventually, that tooth will rot and fall out or need to be extracted to prevent or treat an infection.
Fixing filed teeth can involve expensive crowns or veneers. If the teeth are too damaged or already rotten or dead, the only solution may be to pull the teeth and replace them with a partial or complete denture. So unless you don’t want dentures at a young age, it’s a good idea not to try to reshape your teeth.
Contact Gairhan Dental Care if you have a problem with the size or shape of your teeth. We have solutions to help you without causing severe damage or life-threatening infections.
Using Nail Polish on Your Teeth
Another trend we’ve noticed is people who “polish” their teeth with glitter nail polish or different colors. This may be based on an actual dental product that is safe to use on teeth. However, actual nail polish is NOT safe to use and should be avoided.
Dentists created a product called Chrom Toothpolish to apply temporary color or glitter safely to teeth. It is a non-toxic product that can be removed easily through normal toothbrushing and will not cause permanent damage. It shouldn’t be used with braces or clear aligners and should not be used to “repair” teeth with decay, chips, or cracks.
While that product is safe to use, actual nail polish is not safe. Like the glues, nail polish is highly toxic and can permanently damage your teeth by changing their color over time. Nail polish can make you very ill and should not be ingested. Your saliva alone will start to digest the nail polish off your teeth, causing it to enter your system. Just don’t do it.
Let Us Fix Your Teeth!
These are just a few of the “home remedies” we’ve seen and heard about on TikTok, but there are many, many more. Most of these home cosmetic dentistry ideas are damaging and can be outright dangerous. Before trying these, give us a call at Gairhan Dental Care. We may have solutions that work for you, and they will certainly be safer and less painful than what you might find on TikTok!
