Question from Donna
Hi Debra
I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while:
Crest White Strips, and/or other teeth whitening agents. Do you know anything about them? Are they safe? Can’t really tell by ingredients as I remember, but didn’t know if you had the inside scoop. I am most concerned as I do have an autoimmune illness that I have under control very well for the past twenty years and don’t want to do anything stupid to mess things up.
I appreciate any advice from you and your readers.
Thanks.
Debra’s Answer
The ingredients listed on the box of Crest White Strips are water, glycerin, hydrogen peroxide, carbomer 956, sodium hydroxide and sodium saccharin. These aren’t particularly toxic in the amounts used. For example, sodium hydroxide is lye, which will burn right through your skin if you put a wet lye crystal on wet skin, but it is very diluted in this formula. Sodium saccharin used to be thought to cause cancer, but has since been found to be safe. Glycerin can be made from petrochemicals or vegetables. In this case, it’s probably petrochemical.
Crest Whitestrips are thin, flexible strips coated with a tooth whitening gel, whose active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide, which is the same substance dentists use to whiten teeth. The reason you would use the strips instead of just putting hydrogen peroxide on your teeth is that the hydrogen peroxide needs to be held against the tooth for a period of time. The strips are designed to conform to the shape of your teeth, keeping the whitening gel on your teeth for 30 minutes at a time.
I don’t find this product to be particularly toxic to the degree that I would recommend against it for an average person. That said, if the glycerin is made from petrochemicals, it might be something you might not want to risk with your autoimmune condition.
Readers, what are your recommendations for natural ways to keep teeth white?
