BEAUTY

9 Teeth Whitening Home Remedies

Written by Allison

Try these teeth whitening home remedies.

White teeth never look bad, and that’s a beauty fact. Instead of plunking down a bunch of money to get teeth brighter than the sun, try a gentler approach with teeth whitening home remedies. You can gauge just how white your teeth are getting, and save a whole big chunk of change.

Baking soda

You’ve seen baking soda toothpaste right? You can totally DIY that for a buck. Just try sprinkling a little baking soda onto your toothpaste and brushing as usual. Baking soda can be an abrasive product so don’t use this teeth whitening home remedy if you have sensitive teeth or thin enamel.

It’s this abrasive quality that helps to remove surface stains. Use a few times a week to see if it will make a difference in whitening your teeth, if not move onto a different remedy!

Oil pulling

Oil pulling is the absolute least fun and most time consuming way to try and whiten your teeth at home. The idea is that you simply swish coconut oil around in your mouth for fifteen to twenty minutes, which is a long time to swish stuff in your mouth.

It’s going to feel weird and taste weird that full twenty minutes. The idea behind oil pulling is that it can get any bad bacteria out of your mouth (it is going to cover all of your mouth after all that) and it pulls out “toxins”. It is also supposed to remove surface bacteria and whiten your teeth. There is little formal research on oil pulling as of right now though the anecdotal evidence is abundant. Also, it’s just unpleasant.

Use clay toothpaste

People who brush their teeth with clay swear that it’s better in every way and that it whitens your teeth.

I’m not into putting clay into my mouth so it won’t become part of my routine right now. You can read about my experience brushing my teeth with clay to get the full picture.

Switch toothbrushes

A good toothbrush can change the life of your teeth. Speaking from personal experience here, switching from a manual toothbrush to a Sonicare with a Diamond Clean brush head made my teeth noticeably whiter in a week. I’ve since moved on to generic toothbrush heads but the toothbrush difference is still noticeable.

A sonic toothbrush over manual toothbrush makes your teeth feel significantly cleaner. My one recommendation is to always follow up with mouthwash to get that whole mouth clean feeling.

Dedicated tooth whitening light

Switching from something like tooth whitening strips to a kit with a light is a game changing way to whiten teeth at home. The Aura Glow Blue Light created a noticeable difference in just one use. You basically use a tooth whitening mouthguard and attach the light. It accelerates the whitening process and helps you get white teeth faster.

Whitening toothpaste

You can’t go wrong with whitening toothpaste. If you’re a glass of red with dinner kind of gal, keeping your toothpaste in the whitening arena can’t hurt. Right now I’m using the Crest 3D White Diamond Strong Toothpaste. In my experience using a whitening toothpaste isn’t going to give you major results but it definitely helps.

Whitening mouthwash

Another helping hand is a whitening mouthwash. If you add together a whitening toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash, you’ve got a success story on your hands without having to drool into a whitening kit for ten minutes a day. I’ve always noticed more of a difference from a whitening mouthwash than a toothpaste and it’s great for your oral health too.

Plain ole’ good oral hygiene

Unsurprisingly, taking good care of your teeth leads to a whiter smile. Brushing your teeth twice daily is a must as well as the things people don’t like doing like flossing or seeing a dentist. The more you care for your teeth the better because good oral health is good for your whole body!

Cut back on staining foods and drinks

Last thing is to avoid stain triggers like red wine, coffee, and soda. Not only can some of these erode your enamel (making matters much worse) but daily layers of stains are hard to remove. Opt for less staining replacements like white wine, green tea, or seltzer water! You can do it! I believe in you. If you insist on drinking loads of red and orange wine, buy yourself a pack of wine wipes (they’re great for drinking berry-infused juices and smoothies, too).

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About the author

Allison

Bio: She's a New Orleans based beauty writer, nail polish hoarder, and doughnut enthusiast. When she isn't camping out in her local coffee shop for hours on end, you'll probably find her taking selfies in front of every colorful wall she's ever seen. Follow along on Instagram @allisonmarieschmidt.