Available on Amazon- Buyer Beware

It’s amazing what you can purchase on Amazon.com!   A company that originally sold just books now either directly sells or acts as an agent to sell just about anything.  But, should you buy anything just because you can get it cheap on Amazon?

Take Teeth Whitening Kits for example. The active ingredients in whitening products, whether at the consumer level or delivered by professionals are peroxide based:  Hydrogen Peroxide or carbamide peroxide are chemical agents that whiten teeth.  What most people don’t realize is that these chemicals lose their potency when exposed to heat.  They need to be kept in a cool place.   How does Amazon store their products?

It’s possible that your purchase has been sitting in Amazon's hot warehouses all summer.  Like many large companies, Amazon has head it;s share of problems.... in 2011, employees working in their Allentown PA warehouse passed out from heat exhaustion. The Warehouses were not air conditioned. Amazon's answer by the way was to line up ambulances outside the warehouse and hook employees up to IVs for rehydration and once cooled off, they SENT THEM BACK INSIDE TO WORK!  When it comes to purchasing  health care products, there is more than meets the eye, if you don’t know any better. 

Whitening products are sold direct to consumers in lower potency concentrations. The products sold to dentists have a higher concentration of whitening agents.  The higher concentrations have a greater chance of side effects, such as burning of the soft tissues and sensitivity to cold.  I was shocked when I found out that a patient told me they were able to purchase the professionally distributed products directly from Amazon!  This is very disturbing, because when a professionally dispensed product doesn’t have a doctor’s guidance behind it, there are no guaranties, and no protection against or solution for the possible side effects.   For example, if severe sensitivity develops, we dentists have special desensitizing agents to treat it.  Self “medicating” is dangerous.  This should be left to Professional Healthcare Providers. Wouldn’t you rather have a professional to consult with for a treatment knowing they use properly stored products and will stand behind their care than being treated by an instruction sheet in a box that came in the mail from who knows where?  Not to mention that some of these products may actually be discontinued items, because the product has been updated or changed and Amazon has been able to purchase them in bulk at a discount from the distributor.

This is not to say that we have not all taken advantage of Amazon's great section and prices, however when it comes to Healthcare items, just a word of caution: Buyer beware.

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