Fogfehérités

I have decided that years of coffee, red wine and tobacco have darkened my teeth a shade or two and I should try teeth whitening. I return to the surgery on the Monday to see Dr K, who explains the he does not really approve of teeth whitening but if I must, there are two options. Laser whitening, where the bleaching gel is activated by an intense laser light and home whitening, where the bleaching gel is worn overnight inside a gum shield for several days. Laser whitening is quick but more expensive. I feel quite strongly that I don't want unnaturally bright teeth - I feel over-obvious attempts to conceal the aging process don't make you look good, they just make you look like someone who has problems coping with reality. I decide to go with the home whitening system so that I can stop when I feel my teeth are the right shade.

I think Hungarian is a beautiful language and "fogfehérités" is an example of why. It means literally tooth whitening, but the string of simple, equal syllables has real poetry to me. Anyway, the experience was interesting enough to justify a short diversion. As Dr K explained it to me, whitening involves bleaching the outer layer of the tooth, which temporarily dehydrates the tooth and makes it more porous. As the tooth rehydrates and closes up, it naturally darkens a shade, but you should avoid coloured food and drink for two weeks after bleaching as these will stain the teeth much more quickly. I was given a gum shield and four tubes of bleaching gel to take home.

The gel is quite difficult to apply to the inside of the gum shield because it is so viscous but it becomes easier with practice. I applied half a tube of gel each night and could see a small lightening each morning. What I had not expected was how much the gel made my teeth ache - a fairly dull constant ache that was quite hard to bear. I also found it hard to stay away from coffee and red wine for two weeks. I found myself feeling self-conscious about drinking white wine with friends when it's not my usual drink. In future, I will leave tooth whitening until we have a heatwave. I am not sure if the pain and the need to avoid coffee etc are side effects of laser lightening as well or not. Anyway, I was interested to see if any of my friends passed comment on my whiter teeth - they didn't, but a couple asked if I had been to a tanning salon - I hadn't, so it must have made me look a little bit more like George Clooney.