There’s just something about the phrase ‘a pulsing sack of hydrogen peroxide’ that sounds a little off-putting. A little scary.
So, pity poor Jake Barrett, a 22-year-old sales assistant from Northamptonshire who developed just such a grape-sized bubble of bleach under his tongue after suffering a reaction to the Crest 1hr Express Strips tooth whitening kit he was using.
The bulb formed 48 hours after he used the treatment and after six days of increasing discomfort he admitted himself to A&E at Kettering Hospital. It was there that doctors discovered said ‘pulsing sack of hydrogen peroxide’, which had to be drained by cutting a hole through his chin.
Apparently, if the sack had burst the bleach would have gone into Jake’s stomach and we could most likely have died of peroxide poisoning.
The NHS website advises that ‘Teeth whitening is a form of dentistry and should only be performed by a dentist or another regulated dental professional, such as a dental hygienist or dental therapist, on the prescription of a dentist.’ It goes on to warn against DIY home teeth whitening kits as they ‘may also carry risks’ and that it is illegal for a beauty salon to perform teeth whitening without a dental professional present.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.