The best way to whiten your teeth at home and common mistakes to avoid

Image: Chutima Chaochaiya/123rf

While pearly white teeth are the dream, it’s near-impossible to achieve them without help. Things we eat and drink on the regular also make it hard to maintain white teeth. Coffee or dark teas are two of the biggest culprits, along with other acidic or coloured drinks like wine and juices. 

Of course, it’s impossible to avoid all the things that have the potential to stain your teeth (like berries!), so taking proper care of your teeth is an important part of keeping them white. There are plenty of DIY whitening products and home remedies out there you can try, but some of them are very harsh on your teeth and can do more harm than good when used too often or improperly. 

It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to DIY beauty, especially when you’re doing it without professional help. If you have teeth that are sensitive to cold or if you haven’t been to the dentist in over six months, please speak to your dentist before trying anything out on your own!

#1 Baking soda and lemon juice or mashed strawberries

It’s a fairly old remedy as far as teeth whitening is concerned, but this DIY recipe can do your teeth a lot more harm than good in the long run. While brushing your teeth with baking soda and lemon juice or strawberries can give you marginally whiter teeth over time, a lot of the colour change is from getting rid of plaque buildup and not from the actual removal of the stain beneath the enamel. 

In addition, the combination of the lemon or strawberry and baking soda can damage your tooth enamel over time. If you want to try the baking soda method, it’s safer to limit yourself to using it once a week at the most.

#2 Try whitening strips

Strips are good for keeping the whitening product sealed to your teeth so your saliva doesn’t wash away the whitening ingredients. They are a lot more concentrated and can leave your teeth feeling sensitive after a while, so if you find your teeth starting to feel sensitive, space out the days on which you use the strips. Try to wait about an hour before brushing your teeth after using whitening strips and of course, never use multiple boxes back-to-back. 

#3 Use a fluoride toothpaste

Fluoride in toothpaste is what helps strengthen your tooth enamel. If you want a whitening toothpaste to help remove surface stains on your teeth, try looking for one with fluoride in it. Just be gentle when brushing your teeth as you can damage your gums with vigourous brushing.

#4 Try eating foods that help keep your teeth white

Fruits like apples or pears can increase the saliva production in your mouth. Saliva is your mouth’s way of naturally flushing away stains over time. Cheese is another food that boosts salivary production and is said to help fight cavities while raising the pH levels in our mouths (which basically means it keeps things less acidic, which is good for our teeth). All the more reason to make sure you’ve got some cheese with you when you crack open a bottle of wine!

Just remember that fruits have sugar in them (so moderation is key), and brushing your teeth regularly is still the most important part of keeping your teeth healthy and stain-free!