The History of Teeth Whitening

The use of teeth whitening products is nothing new, although the products themselves have certainly come a long way from their earliest beginnings.

Toothbrushes have been around for 5000 years. Of course, in 3000 BC they didn’t look much like what we’d use today. Instead people chewed on sticks to clean their teeth. This practise continued for millennia and is still used by some less developed peoples today.

However, around the turn of the 16th century, the first bristle toothbrushes appeared in China, made of wood or bone with the hogs hair bristles. The idea was imported to Europe by traders but only the richer classes usually bothered about cleaning their teeth, and even then it was most common for people to use toothpicks rather than brushes.

Teeth whitening itself began with the first toothpaste, actually used by the ancient Egyptians 4000 years ago. They cleaned their teeth with a mixture of powdered pumice stone and wine vinegar. The ancient Romans whitened their teeth using urine! In fact, ammonia and similar chemicals are still used as active ingredients in teeth whitening products today.

During the 17th century if you wanted your teeth whitened you would most likely visit the barbers shop. Barbers often doubled as dentists in those days. The teeth would be filed with a metal file and then have an acid applied which whitened the teeth but eventually led to severe tooth decay!

Flouride was first discovered as a means of keeping teeth healthy during the 19th century. But at the same time as it was found that fluoride reduced the risk of cavities, it was also noticed that it could lead to staining of the teeth, especially if significant amounts of fluoride were swallowed.

Teeth Whitening Today

Today a white smile is even more important than ever before as more and more of us want to make sure we look our best. We also have a much better understanding of what it is that causes our teeth to become stained and discoloured – which means we can also understand better how to counteract the problem and get whiter teeth.

Teeth staining and discolouration is caused by a range of factors – certain foods and drinks including coffee and red wine, tobacco, and certain medications such as Tetracycline, all contribute to discoloured teeth.

Stained teeth need whitening

Today, we’re still vainly trying to impress everyone with a dazzling smile. But there’s nothing that’ll ruin it like discoloration and staining. So dentists are advising us to stay away from all those things that spoil our white teeth. They call them chromogenic agents, and they include medications (especially tetracycline), coffee, tea, tobacco (smoking or chewing) and red wine. Actually, it’s not realistic to expect us to stay away from all those things, but at least we know what causes the discoloration.

So teeth whitening is the focus of many people today, all around the world. There is a growing demand for cosmetic dentistry in North America and the teeth-whitening industry has picked up on this, and answered the call. For example, take a survey done in 2002 by the ADA and Colgate, in which dentists said the fastest-growing part of their business was teeth whitening, with a 25.1% growth rate. And the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry says the number of teeth whitening and bleaching procedures being done has increased more than 300% over the past 5 years.

There are brighter whiter smiles wherever you go.
And if you want to add yours, visit first impressions and join the crowd. You’ll feel more confident about yourself. You’ll be more willing to flash your beautiful smile. And the world will be full of miles of smiles!