​I Tried Whitening My Teeth at Home. Here's What Happened.

www.menshealth.com ^ | Mar 30, 2017 | By Patrick Huguenin

[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.

[Flaming Conservative]

A few years ago, I purchased some flossing picks that kept my teeth and gums in great shape. The dentist was falling all over me, telling me how healthy my teeth and gums were. But I’ve searched far and wide, and cannot find them anywhere, now. They were hard plastic, and the pointy end had ridges on it. Using them was very uncomfortable for several days, before, I suppose, they had debrided any microscopic material on my teeth and gums. I have a metal dental pick I use to remove tartar, but sometimes even that won’t remove it.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

“Whitening” your teeth? Excuse me, but isn’t that racist?

[AppyPappy]

I use a paper clip.

[Fairhairedboy]

This is Free Republic. Not a teen mag.

[WKUHilltopper]

“A good ‘anti-tartar’ toothpaste will suffice, usually, to keep it off.”

Yep. But I don’t see it on the shelves anymore. Guess too much money for them in those chemical whiteners.

[beelzepug]

I use my Dremel.

Kidding.

[beelzepug]

“Whitening” your teeth? Excuse me, but isn’t that racist?

Probably. If you want to look politically correct, chew Betel nut. :o)

[Kommodor]

I think that they make toothpaste that already has those goodies in it. Dentist once set me up with a tube of high powered extra fluoride toothpaste. I liked that stuff.

One of the best buys I’ve made was a ‘sonicare’ toothbrush. It feels a little weird at first, but once you get used to it, it’s like giving your teeth & gums a massage every time you use it.

For the fellow who was looking for flossing picks, try google. You’ll probably find some somewhere (ebay?)

[aimhigh]

Now...does anyone know how to remove tartar? Despite brushing and flossing, it still accumulates on my bottom front teeth.

Change from a soft to a medium toothbrush.

[sparklite2]

The articles elides the real problem with charcoal toothpaste. As an aside, activated charcoal filters are used in some instances to remove undesired chemicals from a solution. Why activation would make the charcoal more beneficial in toothpaste passes me by.

But back to the main story. You got a little yellow on your teeth. So you used the black, charcoal toothpaste to erode it off. This stuff is highly abrasive. You are removing a layer of your tooth enamel, which cannot be replaced.

But you love your whiter teeth, so you keep using the charcoal toothpaste. As your enamel gets thinner, the dentine inside your teeth will begin to show through. And guess what? The color of such dentine makes your teeth yellow! LOL So now you’re back to yellow teeth with the added bonus of thin, damaged un-whiten-able enamel.

Don’t be an idiot. Do not subject your teeth to needless abrasion.

As another aside, most toothpastea containing nonabrasive whiteners do a good looking job as you admire your teeth in the bathroom mirror. But the whitening is temporary. By the time you get to work, you teeth are back to what they were before ‘whitening.’

[Ancesthntr]

“Now...does anyone know how to remove tartar?”

Russian infantry, LOTS of Russian infantry.

Oh, “tartar” and not “Tatar” - uh, nevermind!

[Flaming Conservative]

LOL!

[JZelle]

Milkbone

[newfreep]

Colgate website: https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/cosmetic-dentistry/teeth-whitening/how-to-make-your-own-teeth-whitening-paste-0315

Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda

A simple toothpaste consisting of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can create a brighter smile. Baking soda combined with water, explains MDHealth.com, releases free radicals that break down stain-causing molecules on tooth enamel. Here’s your best approach:

Use less baking soda than hydrogen peroxide, and make sure your paste isn’t gritty.

Combine about two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide with one tablespoon of baking soda.
Stir it into a paste and start brushing.
Let the paste stand about a minute and then rinse.
It’s always important to thoroughly rinse your mouth afterward so no hydrogen peroxide or baking soda is left over.
And above all, limit use of your paste to two or three times a week.
Excessive use of baking soda can have the reverse effect of cleaning, breaking down your enamel over time and causing sensitivity in your teeth.
So, make sure you maintain your regular oral care regimen.

[Deaf Smith]

Just a FYI:

Some native people in Africa rinse their teeth in their own urine for that National Geographic, pearly white smile.

[UnwashedPeasant]

"does anyone know how to remove tartar?"

The following tooth gel will remove plaque/tartar -- that stuff that builds up especially on lower front teeth, between professional cleanings. It eliminates the biofilm that protects plaque from removal.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5FE2NS/

It is pricey, but it is amazingly effective. You can alternate with a regular toothpaste or even use it once every 2 days, since it is super effective. Below is a comparison to the effective (but maybe now illegal) Colgate Total toothpaste that contained triclosan:

[Red Badger]

Some chew betel nuts...................

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/papuanewguinea/9645543/Spitting-betel-nuts-spreading-tuberculosis.html

[Red Badger]

LOL!.....My dog would not appreciate me taking her snacks!.................

[Daffynition]

What did they do to you?

[Flaming Conservative]

Thanks!