If you’re looking for a whiter, brighter smile, baking soda is a natural substance that you can use at home to whiten your teeth. The natural abrasive action of baking soda can help give your teeth a really deep clean that leaves them looking whiter and cleaner than ever. Baking soda is a common ingredient in toothpastes these days, but you don’t need to buy special toothpaste to get the benefits out of it. In fact, using baking soda for your teeth is easy to do at home because it’s so inexpensive. Spending tons of money to whiten your teeth is such a waste of money. Believe it or not American people uses billions of dollars each year on whiten product or on the doctor. Do you want to know how to whiten your teeth with baking soda which is more user friendly way? Follow our handy step by step guide.
How to Whiten Your Teeth with Baking Soda –
The Basics Getting started with baking soda as a tooth treatment is easy:
- Take a small cup or container.
- Measure half a teaspoon of baking soda into it.
- Mix the baking soda with a few drops of water to form a paste. ( I have used lemon which I have discussed below)
- Use a toothbrush or your fingertip to apply the mixture to your teeth.
- Brush your teeth in a steady rhythm for one minute only. (I have used finger tips to clean my teeth as it was more convenient than using toothbrush)
- Brush carefully and consistently, being sure to work your brush into the cracks and crevices between your teeth as best you can.
- Always brush up and down rather than side to side.
- Spit out the baking soda.
- Now rinse your mouth thoroughly with water or mouthwash.
- Don’t forget to rinse your toothbrush too.
Caution:
Baking soda has an abrasive effect, so don’t brush for more than one minute or you could risk damage to your tooth enamel. I never used it more than one minute because of Soda Bicarbonate’s diverse effect.
The Best Baking Soda Brushing Regime:
When you first start using baking soda, you can use it on your teeth every other day. You’ll start to notice a slight difference straight away. By the end of two weeks, you will hopefully see quite a difference in the whiteness of your teeth.
After two weeks, brushing just once or twice a week with baking soda will be enough to maintain the whitening effect.
How to Handle Extra Tough Stains:
If you have an extra tough stain on your teeth, you can use your finger or toothbrush to work a little baking soda mixture into the stain before you start brushing. Wait for up to two minutes, and then continue brushing as described above.
Ingredients You Can Add To Baking Soda Paste:
There are some other ingredients you can add to your baking soda to give your brushing a little extra oomph:
- Half a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice – mix your baking soda with lemon or lime juice instead of water to add an extra bleaching effect to your brushing.
- A pinch of hydrogen peroxide – mix with half a teaspoon of baking soda to help whiten your teeth, but do be sure to buy a 3% solution and check it’s safe for oral use. (I suggest not using it regularly as it may give more harsh effect then the regular baking soda).
- A strawberry – mash up a strawberry and strain it to remove the seeds, then mix it with half a teaspoon of baking soda and use it for a gentle brush with extra whitening power. Thanks to the malic acid in the strawberry which gives whitening effect on the teeth.
Adverse Effect of using Baking Soda:
The main concerning fact is that as baking soda is slightly abrasive it may cause trouble to your enamel. The protective layer of enamel is sometimes damaged for the continuous use of baking soda or peroxide. The weakening of enamel can create other problems as well. You teeth will be more susceptible towards dental cavities. After several researches I came out that excessive use of baking soda can weaken your teeth. That’s why after using baking soda you need to brush with your regular toothpaste.
People who have toothache problem or any other dilemma should avoid it because it may create other unalterable problem.
Baking Soda Cautions:
Baking soda is a safe and effective home remedy for whitening your teeth. However, baking soda has a coarse effect, so you will need to use it carefully:
- After your initial two week treatment, don’t brush more than twice a week with baking soda
- Always brush gently and with an up and down motion
- Rinse your mouth and toothbrush thoroughly after every brushing with baking soda
- Don’t use baking soda if you have braces, dentures, or dental implants of any kind
- If you are using baking soda then try to use some homemade solutions to make your teeth strong.
Use Guava leaf solution. Boil some guava leaves in water. After infusion do use the solution as a mouthwash. It will give instant relief. The taste is a bit weird but surely it will help your teeth much more strong.
- Lastly, do be aware that baking soda doesn’t taste wonderful, but the results are worth it!
Last a few words about what I personally feel. Yellow looking teeth is not at all welcoming and for me it’s quite disturbing. I referred earlier to use it in limited quantity and time. You can alternately use this. After 2 weeks, lessen the usage of baking soda to one per week. No more yellow teeth from now. Use it well and take proper steps to use it.