I get it, who doesn’t want a whiter smile? Imagine you go to a party and everyone who see you smile says the exact same thing: WOW Your Teeth Look Amazing!
And while external validation shouldn’t be your “why”, it feels nice to be perceived as someone who does care of his teeth.
But to get the white teeth you dream about you have to put some effort and be sure that you’re using the right product, and as a dentist, I wrote today’s article to tell you why baking soda shouldn’t be your go to product.
Baking Soda Can Damage Your Teeth
A 23 years old beautiful lady came to my clinic the other day complaining that “her teeth are just hurting”.
I asked her several questions about her oral care routine just for her to tell me that she used baking soda to try to whiten her teeth.
She sat on the dental chair, I asked her to open her mouth for examination, and yes, I saw what I was expecting ..
The enamel on her teeth has completely worn off, and most of them became carious and broken.
Baking Soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is basically a chemical compound that makes it a mild abrasive. This means that it can remove superficial stains from teeth to a certain degree and give a whitening effect.
The problem is baking soda, when used correctly, cannot be effective beyond those superficial stains. What happens in most cases is that the person try “harder”.
Trying harder basically means brushing with baking soda with more power, more frequency and using larger amounts, a great formula to destroy tooth’s enamel along with the stains.
This means that rather than getting a nice, white enamel, you’re basically losing the whole layer, exposing the more sensitive dentin layer that is more prone to dental caries.
A Safer Alternative
As I said before, deep stains within teeth are resistant to baking soda. A safer alternative that I tried myself is using Crest 3D White Strips.
While I disagree with the claim that those strips can whiten teeth by 20 levels, they do work. They contain the same chemical that is present in the whitening gel that dentists use in-office (but in a lower, softer concentration).
They can whiten your teeth by several degrees and their effect last for a quite good time (months).
Take Home Messages
Everyone dreams of getting white teeth. However, everyone’s top priority should be preserving the structure of their teeth at all costs.
The internet is full of faulty information and harmful “DIY Teeth Whitening Guides” that can cost you losing your teeth.
Follow proper oral hygiene tips and never use baking soda for teeth whitening. Only use products recommended by your dentist.
Salut!
