Some TikTok-ers took this at-home trend even further—and viral videos have surfaced of people reshaping their teeth with nail files, dousing their mouth with bleach, and even creating their own braces. While we’re all for beauty rituals at home, some of these trends seem rather…questionable, so we turned to professional dentists (you know, with actual doctoral degrees) to see how far you can—or rather should—go with at-home dentistry. “Moving your teeth is much more complicated than people realize,” says Dr. Nejad. “It might look easy, but it took over 10 years of training for dentists to provide braces—and it is this knowledge and planning that is the most valuable part of orthodontic treatment. When teeth are moved, the condition of your gum, bone, and teeth must all be considered.” Straightening your teeth without addressing all these issues could lead to a whole lot of unnecessary pain and even the worst case scenario: tooth loss.
