Every woman desires that perfect smile. That’s why many go to extreme lengths in this pursuit. ALLAN OLINGO demonstrates why it’s better to go to an expert than a down street quack
A good smile boosts one’s self-confidence and can take you places. That explains why women will do anything to have milk-white teeth. Brown or stained teeth lowers one’s self-esteem.
Women with ‘not so pleasant teeth’ are cautious when talking to others or smiling. And this is why they go to great lengths to have their teeth whitened, even sometimes landing in the hands of quacks.
Here are a few tales:
Pauline, 28, says men did not give her a second look because of her brown teeth.
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"My brown teeth really bothered me. I had low self-esteem and could not even smile," she shares. She can now afford a confident smile after a friend referred her to Meno Safi Clinic where her teeth were cleaned.
"The charges were good and my teeth became milk white. Now I don’t just smile, I have hearty laughs," she says with a wide smile.
Dr Emma Wainaina during the interview. (PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE/STANDARD) |
Dr Lucy Wambui of Meno Safi Clinic says she uses seven indigenous herbal trees that contain incredible amount of mineral to clean discoloured teeth.
Says Lucy: "Our procedure involves the use of herbal medicines and it takes around 20 minutes to clean the teeth. The whitening is permanent and the cost varies depending on the discolouration of the teeth."
Dr Emma Wainaina, a dentist at Dentplan Dental Surgeons in Nairobi, says bleaching is one of the most common procedures of dental cosmetics. It brightens discoloured, stained and darkened teeth.
Dr Wainaina says there are two types of teeth stain — internal and external.
Internal stain stems from within the root and cannot be removed through brushing and flossing. Bleaching is also not strong enough to remove it.
Tooth Injury
The causes include injury to the tooth, medications like tetracycline taken during tooth formation stage, or an excess fluoride (mostly from borehole water) ingested during the formation of teeth. External stain on the other hand interferes with the tooth surface and is caused by cigarette smoking, cigars, masala, coffee, tea or spicy foods.
"Good tooth brushing techniques and professional oral scaling can remove such stains. Tooth sensitivity may be experienced during the bleaching process, which, however, may disappear within two to three days," says Dr Wainaina.
Tooth bleaching is used to enhance ones smile by brightening the natural teeth.
Dr Wainaina explains that the first step is brushing and flossing the teeth thoroughly.
"We then place a small drop of gel in a tray at each tooth site where whitening is desired. The tray is placed firmly onto the teeth and then we use toothbrush or a clean finger to wipe off excess gel," explains the doctor.
The patient then wears the trays throughout the night. In the morning, the tray is removed and the teeth rinsed in cold water to remove the residual material. The trays are kept away from sunlight and heat to avoid melting.
Says Dr Wainaina: "The patient is then required to brush and rinse the excess gel from the teeth after bleaching."
Other procedures to clean discoloured teeth include the office bleach, which is a two-hour process where chemicals are used to whiten the teeth. Laser bleaching, involves a laser light being beamed through the teeth. It uses light energy (halogen) to accelerate the process.
"This option is greatly discouraged by many dentists mostly because of the high sensitivity the patients may experience," warns Dr Wainaina.
All these procedures are extremely expensive. For instance, tooth whitening costs between Sh8,000 and Sh12,000 per jaw. Veneers go for between Sh20,000 to an average of Sh45,000 a tooth with the herbal option costing an average of Sh4, 000. This exorbitant cost and the demand for that confident smile is what drives most people to quacks who do shoddy jobs.
Dr Wainaina warns that due to the increased demand for cosmetic dentistry services, quacks are setting up shop in the hope of cashing in on the growing multi-shilling industry.
expensive process
Quacks use methods that damage the enamel, which results in an expensive make-up process.
"If you go to a quack, instead of leaving with that perfect grin, you end up with more dental problems. So before you desire to go cheap, think of the consequences," offers Dr Wainaina.
There are also quacks who use chisels to scrap off the stains and this is dangerous as it damages the enamel.
