5 Tips to Whitening Your Teeth at Home
5 Tips to Whitening Your Teeth at Home
Sometimes, your teeth will become yellow or stained – no matter how often you brush your teeth. This could be due to several factors such as aging and what you eat. As you grow older, the shiny, white enamel of your teeth grows thinner to expose the yellow-tinged dentin underneath. Certain food items like coffee and soda can contribute to this phenomenon. Also, the buildup of plaque can cause your teeth to look yellow.
Whatever the case, you can treat this type of discoloration easily. There are plenty of teeth whitening products on the market that you can incorporate into your daily tooth-brushing regimen. You could also look for some short-term solutions closer to home. The trick is to avoid items that use chemicals to bleach your teeth. How do you do that? Here are 5 other home remedies that you can use to whiten your teeth:
1. Brush Using Baking Soda
Baking soda has certain properties that make it the perfect natural whitening product. This is a major reason why it can be found in so many commercial toothpastes. Simply put, baking soda is a mild abrasive that helps to scrub away any surface stains on the teeth. It also makes your mouth slightly alkaline, helping to keep bacteria from growing there.
It’s important to note that using baking soda won’t make your teeth whiter overnight. However, you will certainly notice a difference over time. All you have to do is mix a tablespoon of baking soda with two teaspoons of water. You then use the resultant paste to brush your teeth.
2. Try Oil Pulling
Oil pulling is a folk remedy from India that is meant to get rid of toxins from your body, as well as improve oral hygiene. Traditionally, practitioners used either sesame or sunflower oil for this, but any oil should work. That’s why most people have turned to coconut oil for oil pulling. Not only does it have a pleasant taste, but it also offers many other health benefits.
Just put one tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth, the push and pull it through your teeth. Most people claim that doing this for a 15-20 minutes every day has made their teeth whiter and brighter.
3. Use Apple Cider Vinegar
For centuries, people have used apple cider vinegar as a natural disinfectant and cleaning product. However, the acetic acid that it contains also makes it an effective whitening product. Just dilute it in a bit of water and use it as you would normally use a mouthwash. Make sure to rinse your teeth with plain water afterwards, since too much vinegar can make teeth soft.
4. Use Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen is another natural bleaching agent. It also kills harmful bacteria in the mouth. In fact, most whitening products contain hydrogen peroxide. Recent scientific studies have proven that it can lead to significantly whiter teeth in as little as six weeks.
You can use a 1.5% or 3% hydrogen peroxide solution as a mouthwash before brushing your teeth. It’s also best to limit using this to a few times each week. This will ensure that you use this product safely, avoiding common side effects like tooth sensitivity and gum irritation.
5. Eat More Fruits
Apart from their benefits to your overall health, certain fruits and vegetables can also make your teeth whiter. That’s because the chewing action can help rub away plaque build-up. The most popular options for this are strawberries and pineapples. You can simply eat them as normal, or mix these fruits in with baking soda. You can then use the resultant paste to brush your teeth with a few times per week.
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