{"id":928,"date":"2019-04-08T15:53:21","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T15:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=928"},"modified":"2019-04-08T15:53:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T15:53:22","slug":"age-before-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/age-before-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"AGE BEFORE BEAUTY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/10920961354_0bda246c72_b-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"937\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=937\" class=\"wp-image-937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/10920961354_0bda246c72_b.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/10920961354_0bda246c72_b-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/10920961354_0bda246c72_b-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this age of\nreality TV and other unrealistic propaganda, many people, including teenagers,\nare making changes to improve their appearance. And for teenagers, physical\nappearance is an important element of peer pressure. When it comes to the\ndesire for whiter teeth however, age does play a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether teeth\nwhitening is done by a dentist or with over-the-counter products, no one under\nthe age of 14 should be whitening their teeth. Even though all the permanent\nteeth may be in by this age, teeth are still developing. Once the permanent\nteeth have erupted into the mouth, called active eruption, you may notice that\nthe teeth look short. It takes time for the gum tissue to recede, called\npassive eruption, and the teeth to get to their final size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;In some people, this passive eruption doesn\u2019t\ncompletely happen and the teeth still look short. Sometimes this is referred to\nas a \u201cgummy\u201d smile. There are many reasons for showing excess gum tissue and\nthe solutions for that are a subject for a different column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if\nteeth are bleached prior to this passive eruption completely taking place, the\nteeth can end up being two-toned. Although this can usually be corrected, it is\nbest to wait until the entire eruption process is completed. Once an adolescent\nhas reached 15 or 16, if a parent and their child decide that they would like\nthe teeth to be whiter, they can discuss the options with their dentist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many\ndifferent ways to whiten the teeth. Some of the over-the-counter products will\nwork to some degree. They work especially well on young teeth or those that are\nmore yellow. However, the safest and most effective way to whiten the teeth,\nespecially teeth that are older or greyer, is under the supervision of a\ndentist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people\nwill Google products they can buy over the internet to whiten their teeth. If\nyou have ever done this, you know there are many products that are sold with\nthe addition of an ultraviolet light. Clinical studies show that this type of\nbleaching is no more effective than traditional whitening with trays and gel. The\nlight may cause more dehydration in the teeth which will produce an appearance that\nthe teeth are lighter, but this is usually not sustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My experience\nis that professional tray bleaching with properly made trays and proper\ntechnique is the most effective. Some patients will be able to achieve dramatic\nresults in only a week of daily bleaching. Others may require longer periods of\ntime to achieve the desired result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Advances in\nmethods and materials with the whitening process have come a long way. There\nare predictable ways to lighten even the darkest teeth. There is nothing wrong\nwith wanting lighter teeth.\n\nDr. St. Clair maintains a private dental practice\nin Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to health-centered family dentistry. If\nthere are certain topics you would like to see written about or questions you\nhave please email them to him at <a href=\"mailto:jpstclair@stclairdmd.com\">jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\">www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this age of reality TV and other unrealistic propaganda, many people, including teenagers, are making changes to improve their appearance. And for teenagers, physical appearance is an important element of peer pressure. When it comes to the desire for whiter teeth however, age does play a role. Whether teeth whitening is done by a dentist or with over-the-counter products, no one under the age of 14 should be whitening their teeth. Even though all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":938,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}