The Truth about the Home Remedies to Whiten your Teeth
From bright, white smiles to unique grins, some people are willing to go to extremes for their teeth. Let’s take a look at some of these popular dental trends and fads and why you should avoid them!
Our first set of dental fads to avoid involves cleaning and whitening your teeth. Having a bright, white smile is considered desirable, but for many it’s a challenge for many reasons. From oil pulling to charcoal teeth whitener, baking soda teeth whitening to using a hydrogen peroxide rinse, we’ve got the answers you need.
Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is a common substance that recently hit the scene as a teeth whitening option. It comes from burning carbon-rich materials, like wood and coal, at extremely high temperatures. Activated charcoal is odorless and looks much like you would expect, a black powder.
It is highly absorbent and capable of stripping toxins from other substances. Consequently, the ability to absorb toxins makes it a viable treatment for overdoses, chronic kidney disease, and digestive issues. Activated charcoal is also a common water filtration agent.
Is Activated Charcoal Good for Your Teeth?
At first glance, activated charcoal teeth whitener definitely whitens and brightens your teeth. It’s become a common teeth whitening alternative, and you can find activated charcoal toothpaste at your local supermarket.
Given the ability to absorb toxins, there are additional arguments for its benefits. However, over time, the charcoal erodes your tooth enamel. There are safer options for whitening your teeth.
DIY Teeth Whiteners
Why pay for professional teeth whitening when you can do it at home? There are hundreds of websites (even reliable ones!) that offer suggestions for DIY teeth whitening. The good ones include caveats and warnings about excessive use and questionable practices, but not all of them do.
Just like the activated charcoal, some DIY teeth whiteners help, like baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Unfortunately, it’s tough to know when you’ve gone too far or overused a mixture on your teeth because you can’t necessarily see the damage to your enamel.
A bright, white smile is appealing for many, but at what cost? Some people react poorly to the bleaching agents, and others take it a bit too far. If you want to explore teeth whitening, it’s best to visit your dentist for the best, and safest, outcome.
Brushing with Lemon Juice and Baking Soda for teeth
Many people suggest lemon juice and baking soda as a DIY toothpaste to whiten your teeth. Baking soda is a mild abrasive that is capable of removing some stains. Lemon juice is acidic, so it enhances the effects of the baking soda.
Baking soda is often included in toothpaste because it is effective in removing plaque. Combined with lemon juice it could be effective at removing stains, but there are some significant downsides to using the combination on your teeth.
Since baking soda is a mild abrasive with a high pH, it theoretically neutralizes the lemon juice’s acidity. However, this isn’t necessarily the case, and the combination of baking soda and lemon juice could erode your tooth enamel and lead to more problems than a less-than-white smile.
There are still a lot of home remedies or ways that most of us are doing just to get those white and shiny teeth. But then again, the best thing to do is to visit your local dentist for a dental check-up to check the status of your oral health. Dentists are the only one who can give the best medical ways in taking care of your teeth.