ONTD

From spray tan to eyebrow waxing, hit TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras has proved there is little a pageant mother will not do to their child in the name of a trophy.
But the latest episode, which aired last night, was for many viewers, one of the most shocking to date.
Lori, a mother-of-two from Chillicothe, Ohio, was filmed applying bleach to the teeth of both her son and daughter.





Despite the children's protests, she told how she insists on brushing the foul-tasting substance onto their teeth regularly, whether they are due to compete in a show or not.
She said: 'I bleach my children's teeth at least once a week - whether we have a pageant coming up or no


'There's no harm in bleaching their teeth, as long as you use something that the children can stand the taste of, you're alright.'
But it appears the children do struggle with the taste of the bleach, and Lori's son Braxton, five, was seen whimpering as the whitener was applied.






As she brushed it on with a toothbrush, his mother warned him: 'Don't swallow it - it don't taste good if you swallow it.'
His sister, Alaska, eight, was less easily persuaded, shielding her face with a notebook.
The youngster told the show: 'The teeth whitening stuff tastes terrible.'
Her mother eventually coaxed her into the treatment, telling her: 'Your teeth are so yellow compared to his [Braxton's] though.
Lori explained in the documentary that the reason for the teeth whitening is because she doesn't like 'flippers' - false teeth that many child pageant contestants wear.
She said: 'Flippers I think are kind of silly, because you're literally altering what God gave them.'




But while Lori appears to see little wrong with the process, viewers were quick to express their horror.
Julie Ryan Evans, of parenting website CafeMom wrote: 'This show just makes me so sad, and now we have another torture method to add to the heap these sorry moms make their children undergo like fake tans and body waxing...
'I just can't imagine how parents think these things are okay to do to children. Besides the physical pain and potential harm, the message they're sending their children - that this is what's important - is heartbreaking.'
Even Lori's husband, Jay, was seen expressing some shock when he realised what she had been doing to the children.

He told the show: 'I didn't know Lori bleached the kids' teeth. I had no idea.'
But she replied: 'I bleach their teeth all the time... They love it.'
When he asked further about the process, his wife gave him a little of the teeth-whitening formula to taste, admitting herself that it tastes 'disgusting'.
Though Lori considered the teeth-whitening process to have gone 'really well', she did indicate that many might consider her parenting methods extreme.
She pointed out to her husband: 'That [teeth whitening] stuff is kept next to this book. The 7 Worst Things Parents Do!'




The hit series, which is in its fifth season, shines a spotlight on the world of child pageants. In last night's episode, Lori is seen admitting that Braxton performs better in pageants than his older sister.
Even Alaska, it seems, feels she has little support when it comes to child beauty contests.
In her introduction, she says: 'I'm Alaska. My biggest supporter would be... um... I don't really have one.'
By contrast her brother tells the camera: 'I am Braxton, and my sister doesn't do as good as me.'
Lori explains: 'My son Braxton rocks every pageant he goes to. The only [way] that I could see Braxton not winning this pageant is if he fell over dead.'
She adds: 'We'll see how [Alaska] does. And hopefully, she accepts defeat or, you know, failure, with a smile on her face.'