Posted on 02/27/2019 10:33:41 AM PST by Red Badger
Get ready to put some weird stuff in your mouth
Everyone wants whiter teeth, but not everyone wants to spend money on them. After noticing a spike in online advice about how to whiten your teeth with common home remedies, I decided to try them out. From lemon juice to activated charcoal, here's what happened—and what a real dentist thinks you should and shouldn’t do.
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Home Whitener 1: Baking Soda and Fresh Lemon Juice
Internet says: Make a paste of these two ingredients and let it sit on the surface of your teeth for one minute. The acid in the lemon helps erase surface stains.
Dentist says: "I would never recommend lemon juice on anyone's teeth," says Brian Kantor of the NYC dental practice Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor. "It's very acidic and if not cleaned off properly it can pool on the tooth and erode the enamel, and that's the last thing you want."
I say: Thanks, Dr. Kantor. I'll skip this one.
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Home Whitener 2: Coconut Oil
Internet says: Swishing a natural oil around your mouth for 15 minutes—called "oil pulling”—breaks down plaque that can make teeth appear yellow, and removes bacteria, too. Coconut oil is the most commonly recommended.
Dentist says: "It's been around for a long time. Celebrities are doing it. It's a fad." Still, Kantor admits it has benefits. "It's detoxifying. You're removing plaque and bacteria, which will make teeth appear whiter."
I say: No one tells you that coconut oil is a solid. Ugh. I got mine from Trader Joe's, bit off a lump, and waited for it to dissolve in my mouth. Then I ended up chewing it. And almost swallowing—it tastes like coconut! Swishing warm oil in my mouth for 15 minutes felt like an eternity. After several "pullings" over the course of a week, my teeth looked shinier, but not noticeably whiter.
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Home Whitener 3: Hydrogen Peroxide
Internet says: Swish food grade hydrogen peroxide, which is a solution diluted to around 3%, in your mouth for 60 seconds.
Dentist says: "To bleach teeth you need a hydrogen peroxide material that stays on the teeth for a certain amount of time," says Kantor. "Just swishing with hydrogen peroxide isn't going to do that."
I say: It tasted faintly like the inside of a Crest White Strip. It was over quickly. After several tries, no obvious effect.
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Home Whitener 4: Activated Charcoal
Internet says: Brush activated charcoal powder onto stained teeth with a wet toothbrush two to three times a week.
Dentist says: "This is another hot thing right now,” says Kantor. “Do I tell patients to brush with activated charcoal? No, I don't. It's a highly absorbent substance that's a nice surface-stain remover, but given the other choices, do you want to put charcoal in your mouth?"
I say: The powder was inexpensive and tasteless, but a single puff of breath sent it flying everywhere, coating every surface in my bathroom as if tiny volcano had exploded nearby. While brushing, my blackened teeth made me look like an extra from "The Walking Dead." Rinsing out was an inky, splattery, comical mess.
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Home Whitener 5: Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
Internet says: Make these two into a paste and gently brush your teeth with it, using a circular motion on the surfaces.
Dentist says: "Baking soda is an abrasive material that will remove surface stains," says Kantor, "which will make teeth appear whiter. Hydrogen Peroxide kills bacteria, and doesn't add acid. If you're a heavy coffee and red wine drinker, you're going to see results pretty instantly."
I say: The taste wasn't great, but I could feel the slight roughness of the baking soda scrubbing my tooth surfaces. It dislodged gunk I didn't know was there. (Charming, I know.) After about 30 seconds, I rinsed, and my front teeth looked flawlessly clean, slightly whiter, and more evenly white than before. Plus, they were shiny but not slick.
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And the winner is?
Whitener Five! By not overthinking it, and using something that isn't gross, you'll be more likely to keep it up and see results. Plus, it got a dentist’s professional approval.
I’ll toast to that. With a glass of red.
Thanks for the tips! Now...does anyone know how to remove tartar? Despite brushing and flossing, it still accumulates on my bottom front teeth.
Think I am going to brush my teeth again...
Semi-annual cleaning.
A good ‘anti-tartar’ toothpaste will suffice, usually, to keep it off.
Once it’s built up though, usually means a teeth cleaning at the dentist’s office...................
I use my Swiss Army Knife to remove tartar!
Only kidding-I admit to thinking about this, but I have a hard time figuring out what is tartar to scrape.
That said, I do have some dentist tools I use for various repair/misc tasks, and I took the sharp “poker”, cleaned it thoroughly with scrubbing and alcohol, and scraped a little.
Couldn’t figure out if it did anything or not, but it made a scraping sound and felt like what the dentist did.
Activated charcoal? Damn, I should’ve chewed those Tareyton cigarette filters after smoking.
In addition to your Baking Soda and H2O2
I would recommend Ultra Brite Advanced Whiting Formula toothpaste. It has been around for ever so it sells for about a buck a tube.
You can get it at Dollar Tree or some Walmarts.
Brush 2-3 times per day and it gets your teeth whiter also.
“Now...does anyone know how to remove tartar?”
I bought a small toothbrush sized contraption with a long stainless steel abrasive probe on the end. It needs one AAA battery for the sonic/ultrasonic action. It does remove the tartar and calculus, but I don’t think I would use it more than once every month or two, because it’s about as gentle as when the dental hygienist cleans your teeth. It cost me $20 online.
There’s a small, oblong, tubular brush (like for cleaning test tubes or a gun barrel) you can get for the purpose. Run it through the affected space between your teeth a few times before brushing.
Get a sonic toothbrush.
Do some research on Vitamin K2 and its effect on accumulation of calculus on the lower front teeth. I've had this condition for years and, like another poster here, purchased my own set of dental tools to scrape this concrete-like material out, between professional cleanings. Since using K2, I've had no more tartar buildup.
You left out the easiest and most effective home remedy. With your favorite teeth whitening toothpaste; dip your toothbrush with toothpaste into a box of baking soda then simply brush your teeth.
If you want the benefits of bacteria killing peroxide you can mix some with some mouth wash and water in your Water Pic to flush out junk caught between your teeth and gums but set it on the lowest power setting because it can actually slowly separate your gums from your teeth. A light flush to get some solution in there is all you need. To clean between the teeth with the Water Pic; hold it at a 90 degree angle as you move it across your teeth.
The first time you use a Water Pic, if you haven’t just flossed, might surprise you on the particles of food it flushes out. It sure surprised me anyway.
I have always been a floss-aholic, but the waterpik gives teeth a deep clean.
I add Listerine to the water so I also smell like a kid on his first date (or so I am told, with no complaints).
#5,,,
Okay
If I can get them
Out of the jar.
Just got a Water Pik last week, and am anxious to see if dentist has any feedback at my next checkup in about 6 weeks.
It still accumulates. :(
Bump
I’m not fond of dentists but I’d sooner pay them to do anything necessary beyond daily maintenance. I don’t tune up my own car either.
That said, WaterPik and TheraBreath are my weapons of choice.
Especially after contact with sugar. Keeps the dentist away.
I’ve never had a cavity.
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