One of my friends has been experimenting with DIY ways to whiten her teeth. She told me she had the most whitening from lemons. I was thinking about trying the lemons, but my husband thinks I should check with a dentist first. I don’t want to ask my dentist because, obviously, he’ll want me to get my teeth whitened with him. I’m not your patient, so I feel that I can be more confident in your response. So, what do you think?
Olivia
Dear Olivia,
I am glad you wrote. I want you to do your friend a favor and save her teeth. While the citric acid in the lemons will make her teeth look whiter, it will only be temporary. Her teeth will eventually become darker as a result. This is because the acid in the lemons will etch her teeth. At first that creates a creamy look, which can appear whiter. Once that wears off, she has damaged enamel that will pick up stains much more rapidly than if her enamel were intact.
In fact, if you are going to drink anything with citric acid, including sodas or other fruit juices do not let it sit in your mouth. If you are going to brush your teeth immediately afterward, make sure you swish some water around in your mouth to neutralize the acid. Otherwise, you will end up grinding that acid into your teeth.
There is a similar issue with over the counter whitening toothpastes. Almost all of them use abrasives to remove the staining on your teeth. This will damage your teeth. There is a safe whitening toothpaste, Supersmile Toothpaste. This uses a protein pellicle to remove stains.
There isn’t a great DIY option. However, something like Crest Whitestrips does work and will whiten your teeth. The only real downside is that they will only get six teeth and the whitening gel is significantly weaker than what you’d get with professional teeth whitening through your dentist, so you will have to buy quite a few kits to match what your dentist can do in a much shorter period of time.
Please encourage your friend to stop.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington Dentist Dr. James E. Williams.
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