Filing teeth among disturbing TikTok trends

Filing teeth with a nail file and forcibly fainting on camera are among the weird and worrying trends sweeping TikTok.

From filing teeth with a nail file to kids forcing themselves to faint, the pursuit of likes, comment and fame on social media has reached a new level with today’s youth, as TikTok trends become ever more weird and worrying.

What began as a platform to share quirky dancing videos has evolved into many worrying trends which put participants at more risk than they realise.

While most TikToks are simply quirky and funny — and downright weird — troubling reports are also emerging of alarming and dangerous activities kids and teens are undertaking on the app, landing some in hospital and tragically killing others.

Here are some of the social media trends that will shock you:

Blackout

Known as the “blackout challenge”, this trend is leaving kids being treated for head injuries and seizures.

Kids are cutting off their air supply to the point of unconsciousness trying to make themselves faint — all for the online hustle of getting high view and like counts.

The point of the challenge is unclear, but the results can be life changing or even deadly.

Some participants experience seizures from holding their breath for too long while others hit their heads mid faint.

This challenge has already claimed the life of a ten-year-old girl in Italy, as well as leaving a 12 and 13-year-old boy ‘brain dead’ from lack of oxygen.

The devastating loss prompted data protection watchdogs to try and ban users with unconfirmed ages, a process that is ongoing.

Dangerous challenges are prohibited by TikTok’s community guidelines, but the social media platform seems to get involved too late.

“When we receive reports about a dangerous or harmful challenge circulating online, we investigate,” the site said on its online challenges information page.

“Sometimes, we don’t find evidence of a trend — even when warnings are being widely shared and reported on other platforms or in the media.”

Tooth filing

Those unhappy with their smiles have taken up with nail files to ‘straighten’ their teeth.

Against the advice of dentists, some young people are seeking to perfect uneven teeth with emery boards to avoid paying dental fees for non-critical procedures.

The trend involves dragging the file along your teeth (the way you would your fingernails) to buff and soften rough edges.

Dentists have labelled the challenge as “purely destructive”, and a one-way route to ruining tooth enamel, developing cavities and nerve damage, and sensitising teeth to cold food or drinks. Tooth enamel does not grow back, leaving dental professionals in despair.

Young people are also going to extreme lengths to whiten their teeth at home, using unconvential and sometimes questional methods.

TikTok Challenge of teeth filing. Picture: TikTok

The dry scoop challenge involves eating pre-workout powder raw.

Dry scoop

Supposedly a fitness trend, the ‘dry scoop’ challenge involves taking a scoop of pre-workout powder before exercising – without water.

Pre-workout powders are marketed to help individuals recover and ease the fatigue of an intense workout, with most products full of caffeine.

The danger of this particular challenge is that scoffing dry powder is an abject choking hazard.

Many people who give this trend a try cough up clouds of protein dust – or, like TikToker Briatney Portillo, end up in hospital from a heart attack.

The 22-year-old content creator tried the dry scoop to boost her workout, but after brushing off symptoms of dizziness and itchiness, she began to feel heaviness and pain in her chest.

Ms Portillo spent a night in hospital and subsequently used her social media platforms to warn others not to partake in the ‘dry scoop’ fiasco.

Benadryl

The Benadryl challenge encourages users to take large doses of antihistamines to try and induce hallucinations. No different from taking any other drug for the purpose of a ‘high’, the Benadryl challenge is extremely dangerous and has claimed the life of several teenagers.

A video circulated on TikTok informing viewers they could induce a high by taking at least a dozen antihistamines — but in addition to hallucinations, overdoing on this drug can cause seizures, high heart rate and can trigger arrhythmias (irregular heart beat).

The trend escalated to the point that Johnson and Johnson, the manufacturer of the drug, issued a warning and guidelines about Benadryl consumption: “As with any medicine, abuse or misuse can lead to serious side effects with potentially long-lasting or even life-threatening consequence.”

“We understand that consumers may have heard about an online ‘challenge’ involving the misuse or abuse of diphenhydramine.

“This challenge, which involves the ingestion of excessive quantities of diphenhydramine, is a dangerous trend and should be stopped immediately.”