Is Instagram bad for your teeth?

You’ll only need to scroll through your feed for a minute or so before you come across an influencer posing with a pair of perfectly white teeth. It’s part of the branding strategy and impeccable self-representation that influencers rely on to become successful. There is nothing wrong with this: what they do with their teeth is up to them. However, some of these teeth aren’t what they seem and that causes more of an issue.

There are a number of ways that people fake the ‘perfect teeth look’ on Instagram. The most obvious and common way is to use filters. Quite frankly, the level of filter ability amongst Instagram influencers is astounding. Many of the perfect teeth you see on your feed are achieved this way; a little edit here and there, plus an increased whiteness saturation, and bingo – your teeth are perfect! You can say that this isn’t a problem because everyone wants to look good, right? However, when you see your favourite influencer sporting a set of exceptional teeth, it’s only natural that you’re going to want them, and that’s where the problem starts.

The fact of the matter is that the perfect teeth on your Instagram scrolling just aren’t right for all of us. Everyone has their own teeth shape and teeth shade, which means that a set of perfectly straight white teeth on one person, won’t look the same on another person. This comes down to skin tone, eye colour, facial features and a whole load of other elements. Essentially, you could end up getting the ‘perfect teeth look’ before you realise that you’ve made a big mistake. That’s not the same as us saying that you can’t improve your teeth, because of course you can. Re-shaping your teeth and receiving whitening treatment at the dentist can help you to get the teeth you’ve always dreamed of. Just don’t go with Instagram whitening sets.

You will have undoubtedly seen a lot of miracle DIY whitening kits sprawled across your feed, often with a matching #promotion code. However, what you won’t have seen is the terrible effects that they can have on your teeth. Lots of these promoted kits contain extremely dangerous chemicals that have been banned because of the damage they cause (Amazon took their most popular whitening kit off their site for this reason). However, it’s not just the chemicals that should be turning you away. Without professional guidance, no whitening kit is 100% safe. You wouldn’t perform a facelift on yourself, so why perform dental treatment?

As a final disclosure: we know that there are lovely influencers on Instagram who have got their teeth in the right way, and we also know that it’s natural to want great-looking pearly whites. All we ask is that you take the time to seek a professional’s guidance. You should come to your dentist because they are experts – they have been specifically trained to provide the exact treatment you need, which is the only way to guarantee healthy, great-looking teeth.