It’s no secret that baking soda is a great natural remedy for many things, including whitening teeth. When applied to the teeth, baking soda works as an abrasive agent, removing stains and polishing the teeth. Before you start, it’s important to make sure you have clean hands and a clean workspace. You’ll also want to avoid doing this procedure right before bedtime.
To start, wet your toothbrush and dip it into some baking soda. Brush your teeth with the baking soda until the paste starts to foam up and feel gritty. Rinse out your mouth with water after brushing and then brush again with regular toothpaste to get rid of any lingering residue from the baking soda mixture. Repeat this process once or twice per week for best results.
Read on to learn more about How To Use Baking Soda As Teeth Whitening For Skin,m Brushing Teeth with Baking Soda Precautions and Baking Soda and Lemon Teeth Whitening Results & Reviews
How To Use Baking Soda As Teeth Whitening For Skin
Baking soda and lemon juice have been praised for whitening teeth, curing acne, and erasing scars. Still, others insist that combining the two is dangerous for both your teeth and skin. While there haven’t been many studies done on using both ingredients together, there are several studies that look at the cosmetic benefits of baking soda and lemon juice individually.
These studies, combined with information about the pH of both baking soda and lemon juice, suggest that each of these ingredients may have benefits on its own. However, you might want to think twice before combining them. Keep reading to learn why.
Understanding acids and bases
Before diving into the effects of baking soda and lemon juice, it’s important to understand the basics of the pH scale. This scale, which ranges from 1 to 14, refers to how acidic or basic (the opposite of acidic) something is. The lower the number on the pH scale, the more acidic something is. The higher the number, the more basic it is.
Baking soda has a pH of about 9, meaning it’s basic. Lemon juice has a pH of about 2, meaning it’s very acidic.
Teeth whitening
The claim
Baking soda can remove stains, including those caused by coffee, wine, and smoking, from your teeth. Adding lemon into the mix makes the baking soda even more effective.
The research
A report in the Journal of Clinical DentistryTrusted Source reviewed five studies that looked at baking soda’s ability to remove plaque from teeth. All five studies found that baking soda alone effectively removed plaque.
However, a 2015 studyTrusted Source found that lemon juice eats away at tooth enamel, which protects your teeth from decay. Unlike other protective shields, such as your nails, tooth enamel doesn’t regrow.
Many proponents of using baking soda and lemon juice for whiter teeth insist that the harmful acid in lemon juice is balanced out by the high pH of baking soda. However, there’s no evidence that baking soda completely neutralizes the acidity of lemon juice. It’s also very hard to know whether you have the right ratio of acid to base when making your own paste at home.
Given the risk of permanently damaging your tooth enamel, it’s best to leave the lemons in the kitchen.
Try this instead
If you’re interested in whitening your teeth, talk to your dentist first. They can recommend safe over-the-counter options or discuss more intensive treatments with you.
To reap the dental benefits of baking soda, try brushing your teeth with a mixture containing 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of water. You can also look for a toothpaste that contains baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. A six-week clinical trialTrusted Source found that toothpaste with these ingredients whitened teeth more than regular toothpaste did.
Skin care
The claims
When applied to the skin, lemon juice can reduce wrinkles, fade scars, and brighten your skin. The gritty texture of baking soda works as an exfoliator to clean out your pores. When you mix these two together, you get an easy, homemade scrub that does the work of several products.
The research
Baking soda
There’s no evidence that baking soda provides any benefits for your skin, even when combined with lemon juice. In fact, baking soda can actually harm your skin.
The average pH of skin is between 4 and 6, meaning it’s slightly acidic. When you introduce something with a higher pH, such as baking soda, it changes the pH of your skin. Slight disturbances in your skin’s pH level, especially those that raise it, can lead to many skin problems, such as peeling, acne, and dermatitis. Using a scrubbing motion to distribute baking soda on your face just makes it more irritating for your skin.
It may seem like lemon juice would be a good way to counteract the high pH of baking soda, but similarly to making your own toothpaste, it’s hard to get the proportions right outside of a laboratory. Adding even slightly too much baking soda or lemon juice could wreak havoc on your skin.
Lemon juice
On its own, lemon juice seems like it would be good for your skin. It’s full of vitamin C, which can help reduce inflammation and skin damage from UV rays. It also contains citric acid, which has been shown to dry out pimples.
However, research indicates that vitamin CTrusted Source and citric acid Trusted Sourceonly provide skin benefits when they’re highly concentrated. The concentrations of both vitamin C and citric acid in lemon juice are too low to effectively penetrate your skin.
Try this instead
Ditch baking soda and get the benefits of vitamin C and citric acid by using an acid designed for your skin. If you’re prone to acne, try salicylic acid. For antiaging benefits, try an alpha-hydroxy acid, such as glycolic acid.
Always test out an acid on a small part of your skin before putting it on your face.
The bottom line
Baking soda and lemon juice might seem like harmless ingredients, but they can actually damage your teeth and skin when used incorrectly.
There’s some evidence that baking soda effectively removes plaque from your teeth, but adding lemon into the equation can eat away your enamel.
When it comes to your skin, lemon juice seems like a logical solution since it contains both vitamin C and citric acid. However, lemon juice won’t provide either of these in concentrations high enough to make a difference.
Baking Soda and Lemon Teeth Whitening Results & Reviews
Some individuals recommend combining baking soda with lemon juice to whiten teeth. But isn’t lemon juice is acidic hence likely to eat away the calcium from your teeth. Is it not known to corrode or destroy your enamel? In fact, lemon juice may also cause some inflammation of the gums. Well it is known do all that but according to those who support its use, the trick is ensuring that it does not stay for long on your teeth. Fact, you should be cautious though.
Recipe
What you will need
- A toothbrush
- Several teaspoons of baking soda
- Enough lemon juice to form a paste
How to
Mix several teaspoons of baking soda with enough fresh lemon juice (or water) to make a paste. Wipe your teeth and any extra saliva off of them with a paper towel. Put a good amount of paste onto your toothbrush and apply. Leave the paste on for 1 minute, then rinse, so as to avoid the acid effecting enamel
Brushing Teeth with Baking Soda Precautions
Do not forget that;
- Baking soda is corrosive to the gums and should be diluted to safe concentrations for oral use. Otherwise, you may damage the gums and risk gum diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis.
- Baking soda has a very strong alkaline taste to the tongue and may be very unpleasant if use in its powder form.
- On its own, swallowing baking soda will not have deleterious effects on your health.
- There are many different causes of teeth discoloration and this has to be determined. If the cause is intrinsic, baking soda can be used but again to a limited extent. If the intrinsic cause is drug-induced like in the case of tetracycline, then give up using baking soda. If the cause is genetic, it will not work too.
- It is important to clean the mouth thoroughly to eliminate any residual baking soda.
- Do not retain the paste longer than 2 minutes as this may again destroy the enamel.
- Baking soda alone is not effective in keeping the teeth healthy and should therefore be mixed with tooth paste.
- Remember, baking soda, in reasonable amount prevents the destruction of the enamel and therefore preventing the translucency of the enamel that causes yellowing. However, high It is important to note that high concentrations or frequent brushing with it may again destroy the enamel
- For a first time, brush your teeth with baking soda once in two days for a week then cut down to once or twice a week.
- As mentioned above baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can be mixed in the proportions as in the other formulations to make a paste.
- A color-matched composite bonding material may be used.
- Veneers may also be placed as a layer over the teeth to prevent damage and improve aesthetics. Veneers may be composite or dental porcelain.
More Tips on how to Whiten Teeth Fast without Baking Soda
- Stains caused by food or drinks can be removed by flossing, brushing and proper rinsing.
- Stains can also be removed by applying bleaching agents to the enamel. Power bleaching is a technique whereby a light-activated bleaching gel is applied. The teeth get remarkably whiter within 30-45 minutes.
- Discoloration often can be removed by applying a bleaching agent to the tooth enamel. One technique is called “power bleaching.” With this method, the dentist applies a light-activated bleaching gel. It causes the teeth to get significantly whiter in about 30 to 45 minutes. Several follow-up treatments may be needed, or take-home bleaching trays may be provided.
- Whitening toothpastes though do not change the overall color outlook of the teeth, may remove some minor stains.
- Xylitol – alkalizes the oral cavity and should be used as often as possible. 100% Xylitol Mints and Gum reduce mouth acidity and regulate the pH into a safe zone. These mints are most beneficial after having a meal protecting the enamel from destruction from acidity brought about by bacteria strains of Streptococcus mutans and
- Lifestyle and habit changes such as reduced stress and exercising. Regulating the intake of acidic foods such as proteins will also be beneficial.
When to see a Doctor
Sodium bicarbonate and the other ingredients discussed above do not seem to work for you? Visit your dentist anytime if you are unhappy with the results. Any change in the color of the teeth of a child or an adult should be examined by a dentist for evaluation.