如果你用鹽或小蘇打來美白牙齒，或許你應(yīng)該停止了

如果你用鹽或小蘇打來美白牙齒，或許你應(yīng)該停止了

If you regularly enjoy coffee, tea, red wine and pastas with marinara sauce, you might be aware that these foods and beverages leave behind stains on your teeth well after they are consumed.

如果你經(jīng)常喜歡喝咖啡、茶、紅酒和意大利面配番茄醬，你可能會意識到這些食物和飲料在你吃完之后會在牙齒上留下污漬。

But if you think you've found a whitening solution in the form of table salt (sodium chloride) or baking soda (another type of salt, sodium bicarbonate), think again.

但是，如果你認(rèn)為你已經(jīng)找到了一種以食鹽(氯化鈉)或小蘇打(另一種鹽，碳酸氫鈉)為形式的美白溶液，那你就錯了。

"I see no clinical reason why someone would brush their teeth with salt," said Dr. Matt Messina, an Ohio-based dentist and assistant professor at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry. "There is no scientific evidence that brushing with salt has any sort of whitening effect on teeth."

“我看不出有人用鹽刷牙的臨床原因，”俄亥俄州牙醫(yī)、俄亥俄州立大學(xué)牙醫(yī)學(xué)院助理教授馬特·梅西納博士說。“沒有科學(xué)證據(jù)表明，用鹽刷牙對牙齒有任何美白效果。”

The same can be said for baking soda, although there is more of a scientific basis to the value of using sodium bicarbonate to brush your teeth, Messina explained. It's a mild abrasive, and chemically also a mild bleach, which can neutralize cavity-causing acids. So when commercially available toothpaste didn't exist, he said, baking soda made sense for its ability to polish teeth and reduce acidity.

同樣的道理也適用于小蘇打，盡管使用碳酸氫鈉刷牙的價值有更多的科學(xué)依據(jù)，梅西納解釋說。它是一種溫和的研磨劑，化學(xué)上也是一種溫和的漂白劑，可以中和蛀牙引起的酸。他說，所以當(dāng)市面上還沒有牙膏的時候，小蘇打?qū)τ诖蚰パ例X和減少酸性的能力是有意義的。

But that was then; today, you've got better options. In fact, exposing teeth to salt or baking soda could erode the tooth's surface enamel over time. Enamel is like the finished surface of a floor: It's a thin, hard outer layer that protects each tooth. When enamel is worn away by an irritant, such as salt, decay can occur as bacteria in plaque are able to penetrate teeth more quickly, where they produce acids that can lead to cavities.

但那是過去的事了;今天，你有更好的選擇。事實上，長時間暴露在鹽或小蘇打中會腐蝕牙齒表面的牙釉質(zhì)。牙釉質(zhì)就像地板的表面:它是一層薄薄的、堅硬的外層，保護(hù)著每顆牙齒。當(dāng)牙釉質(zhì)被一種刺激物(如鹽)腐蝕時，牙菌斑中的細(xì)菌能夠更快地穿透牙齒，從而產(chǎn)生酸，導(dǎo)致蛀牙。

Nerve damage can occur as well, and gums may become more sensitive, explained Dr. Gerald Grossman, a New York-based cosmetic dentist and diplomate of the American Board of Aesthetic Dentistry.

也會發(fā)生神經(jīng)損傷，牙齦可能會變得更加敏感，紐約的美容牙醫(yī)、美國牙科美容委員會的醫(yī)師杰拉爾德·格羅斯曼博士解釋說。

Since salt and baking soda are abrasive they could remove stains from teeth, but that's like trying to lighten your floors by sanding them down, said Messina, who is also a spokesperson for the American Dental Association. It'll work -- but eventually you'd sand away the floor's entire surface.

同時也是美國牙科協(xié)會發(fā)言人的梅西納說，由于鹽和小蘇打具有研磨性，它們可以去除牙齒上的污漬，但這就像試圖通過打磨來減輕牙齒的重量。它會起作用——但最終你會磨掉牙齒的整個表面。

"You might see short-term whitening with an abrasive, as it will remove surface stains and teeth may get whiter quickly, but the long-term damage is in no way worth that," Messina said. The erosion of enamel can also cause teeth to become more yellow over the long-term, as the yellow-colored dentin, the inner layer of tooth, is exposed.

梅西納說:“你可能會看到用研磨劑進(jìn)行短期美白，因為它可以去除表面的污漬，牙齒可能很快變白，但長期的損害是不值得的。”牙釉質(zhì)的腐蝕也會導(dǎo)致牙齒長期變黃，因為牙齒內(nèi)層黃色的牙是暴露在外的。

There's no way to know how much is too much scrubbing with salt, because everybody's case is different, Messina explained. "But enamel doesn't grow back ... once it's gone, it's gone."

梅西納解釋說，因為每個人的情況都不同，所以無法知道用鹽擦洗多少次才算多。“但是牙釉質(zhì)不會再長出來……一旦它消失了，它就消失了。”

The best way to whiten teeth

美白牙齒的最佳方法

To keep your teeth as white as possible, it's important to brush and clean between your teeth and floss on a regular basis with a toothpaste approved by the American Dental Association. "Clean teeth are whiter and healthier," Messina said.

為了讓你的牙齒盡可能潔白，用美國牙科協(xié)會認(rèn)可的牙膏定期刷牙和清潔牙線是很重要的。“清潔的牙齒更白更健康，”梅西納說。

If regular brushing and flossing isn't giving you the results you want, Messina recommend a personalized, in-office consultation with a dentist. "There are safe and effective whitening techniques, but they will be different for each individual person," Messina said.

如果經(jīng)常刷牙和使用牙線不能達(dá)到你想要的效果，梅西納建議向辦公室的牙醫(yī)進(jìn)行個性化咨詢。梅西納說:“現(xiàn)在有安全有效的美白技術(shù)，但它們因人而異。”