Cheap ways to whiten your teeth at home

Getting your teeth whitened at the dentist is supposedly very safe and effective, but it can cost hundreds of dollars. Tooth whitening strips are another option, but they’re not exactly cheap, either. Both of these methods take up considerable time, too.

Fortunately, you can whiten your teeth with baking soda and peroxide, safely and cheaply, providing you follow instructions.

1. Mix a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide with a teaspoon of baking soda.
2. Brush your teeth like you would with toothpaste. Do not brush too hard and be very gentle around the gum lines to avoid irritating them. Electric toothbrushes are great (cheapies will do as well as pricey ones) because they brush thousands of times while you just gently hold them against your teeth.
3. Don’t do this more than maybe 3 times a year. Some dentists say it’s perfectly safe to do regularly, others disagree, but everyone I’ve come across online seems to agree that doing it just a few times a year is safe.

Do you really need whiter teeth?

We’re being manipulated by the beauty industry. Ten or twenty years ago, you worried about your teeth being yellow from coffee or smoking. Now we’re encouraged to worry that they’re not white enough. The teeth of actors and models used to be a nice, natural-looking dull whitish bone color, and nowadays they almost glow in the dark. If your teeth are stained and you want to whiten them, by all means, go for it. But don’t obsess about how white they should be. “Not yellow/stained” is good enough. Whiter than that can actually look a little weird, in my humble opinion.

Also be aware that some people’s teeth are naturally a different shade from others. If your enamel is thin, you would need paint to achieve the level of whiteness commercials make us think we should aim for. Again, don’t obsess.

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Posted in Health and Beauty on November 11, 2009